Battle for Planet Xian
by Spammmy
Summary: An imagined "untold story" set after the end of Starcraft 1 but before the Brood War. A Terran unit loyal to Raynor is sent to investigate the Dominion controlled Planet Xian. Loyalty is questioned, as Terran factions and Protoss battle each other while also fighting the resurgent Zerg. Featuring original characters and different interpretations to old ones.
1. Day 1

1.

Hyperion, Jim Raynor's quarter.

"Thanks for coming." Raynor is informal, as always.

"_Of course._" Replies the woman, formally.

"Smoke?"

"_No thank you._"

"I'll have one if you don't mind."

"_Actually I do. The smoke adds unnecessary burden to the air filtration system._"

"You got a point. I have to go cold turkey one of these days. So you know why I call you here?"

"_Bits and pieces. I've heard rumours._"

"You know better than most where we stand in the war, right?"

"_Yes._"

"There is this one lead I want you to look at."

"_What is it?_"

"There is this planet in this sector. Xian. From what we can tell, unremarkable. The Confederacy had a colony base here. Back water colony, like the one I was in. It was untouched during the Zerg invasion. But Mengsk sent a division to the planet.

"_A division?_"

"That's right. We think when Mengsk took control of The Confederacy, he found something in the archives about that planet that caught his eyes. We want you to lead a task force to investigate."

"_I'm guessing you are not giving me a division to match Mengsk's._"

"We are stretched thin. You know that. As far as we can tell, it is just another colony. So I am curious why Mengsk thinks it is so important. Do what you can to find out. I leave the 'how to find out' part entirely to you. I'm also sending you a command centre, so just in the off chance you need to go toe to toe with Mengsk's force, you at least have something to start with. We have more equipments than we have people, so in case you have to fight, you have to recruit the locals or find defectors from Mengsk."

"_I understand."_

"The Hyperion will drop you off from orbit, then bug out immediately. We will time it during a meteor shower, so they will have a harder time tracking where you land. Contact us again when you have found something. I'm sorry, but you are on your own on this mission."

"_I understand._"

"Best case scenario, in and out like a Ghost."

"_Are you giving me a Ghost for this operation?_"

"HAHA. No. But we have tons of Ghost equipment though. Take some sniper rifles with you, they will come in handy."

"_They are really shit against siege tanks._"

"Hopefully you don't need to take on siege tanks. Any more question?"

"_Intelligence on Mengsk's force?_"

"Almost zero. Reports of Mengsk's forces come from refugees escaping the planet. They said they have never seen so many ships coming their way, and that's their cue to leave. Like I said, it is odd because it is just another colony, and this colony doesn't even have zerg sightings. Not even a little creep. Zero, absolutely peaceful."

"_And the planet itself?_"

"Everything we know is public record. You can read for yourself. We have no extra information. Anything else?"

"_No. I'll manage._"

"I know you will. One last thing, remember what happened to Sarah isn't your fault. It is MY fault, and it is Mengsk's fault. Don't blame yourself."

"_We've been through this. As long as you keep blaming yourself, I will keep blaming myself. We all have to take responsibility._"

"Just… get it done and come back to us in one piece."

* * *

2.  


Planet Xian. The Woman in a saloon like those in the wild west, in a town like those in wild west.

"What can I get you madam?"

"_Two Whiskeys._"

"Coming right up."

"_Tell me, who are those two over there?_"

"Pah, they are fugitives, fugitives from The Dominion. The guy on the right, the gruff fellow with a full beard and build like a bear? I heard he killed a Dominion Firebat. With his bare hands. The one on the left, he is our town's mechanic. Best mechanic I've seen, he can fix anything. He also isn't a big fan of Mengsk, blew up Mengsk's hologram statue in town. The Dominion sent a few law men to take care of these two, all of them ended up dead. So they just stopped sending them. They are good business, though, always like a drink, or ten."

"_Thanks, how much for the whiskeys?_"

"20 credits."

The Woman brings the drinks to the two men.

"_Here, let me buy you two a round._"

"Do I know you madam? Jesus, Fry, stop drinking that! It could be poison, she could be an assassin from the Dominion."

"**I was getting sober, Wendel. I needed that.**"

"Ah well, if you are going to die from that poison, I may as well join you. Cheers. So madam, what do you want from us?"

"_I can't help but overhearing your conversations._"

"So?"

"**Bartender! Another round. On her tab!**"

"_Let's just say I'm as interested as you two about breaking into the main Dominion base._"

"Fry, buddy, are you ok? Not feeling sick or anything?"

"**Er… yeah?**"

"Oh good, so you are not an assassin from the Dominion. But that doesn't mean we can trust you, madam."

"_Let's just say I hate Mengsk as much as you two. Maybe even more, but this isn't a dick measuring contest._"

"**HA! I like her.**"

"You like anyone who buys you a drink, Fry."

"**That's why I like you Wendel buddy.**"

"_How about a little mercenary work? Me and my crew have a dropship, we join forces to break into the base. We split the spoils 50:50._"

"How about you stop playing games and tell us why you want to get into that base and who you really are? I've been watching you, madam. You have been listening to us for quite a while. I've seen you asking folks about us. Now I figure the Dominion wouldn't even bother to ask around, they would just kill us all if they have the chance, so I guess you aren't with the Dominion, but my enemy's enemy isn't exactly my friend."

"_Meet me at this coordinate. It's better to show you. And come sober. The drinks are on me today._"

"Your name madam?"

"_Beth._"

* * *

3.

An hour later. Designated coordinate. Rocky. Lots of cover, lots of hiding places. Everybody dress to kill.

"_Were you two followed?_"

"**No.**"

"No."

"_We'll see. Say, I've never seen a Goliath like yours, Wendel._"

"It is my own custom build."

"_Expecting trouble?_"

"Always."

"**Pah, my suit shoots slowing grenades.**"

"Jesus Fry, shut up. She isn't a friend."

"I was in the Confederacy special forces. Experimental Power Suit. Only for the best. Then the Dominion shows up. Says the Confederacy is dead. Yada yada yada."

"_Friends of yours Fry?_"

"Ah crap."

They are surrounded by a dozen or so Dominion marines, plus a wraith decloaks.

"THIS IS THE DOMINION ARMED FORCES ON XIAN. WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED, RAYNOR'S RAIDERS. SURRENDER PEACEFULLY OR DIE. I PREFER YOU TO NOT SURRENDER. SAVES ME THE TROUBLE." The loud mouth looks like the commanding officer.

"_Dropship, on my mark take off and run._" Beth whispers into her comm.

"***What about you madam? We can't just leave you here. And there is a wraith.***" Comes the reply.

"_Don't worry, you can take a few hits. I can handle the rest._"

"***Yes madam.***"

"**Wait did that guy say 'Raynor's Raiders'? I thought they were coming for us.**" Fry looks to Wendel.

"I guess we aren't high enough on Mengsk's shit list." Wendel feels indignant.

"_On my mark take out the marines first, then the wraith._" Beth whispers to Fry and Wendel.

"THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING."

"_Dropship take off now!_"

"SHIT THEY HAVE A DROPSHIP. ALL UNITS TAKE IT DOWN GRRRRRRR…"

"**Kaboom baby!**"

While the Dominion marines are firing on the dropship, Fry, Wendel and Beth take care of all the marines. Wraith fires a few shots at the dropship, sees the marines dead, then turns on its cloak and flees.

"_Command Centre. I need a comsat now on my location. We are looking for a cloaked Wraith._"

"***Roger that, marking cloaked Wraith on your HUD.***"

"_Shit, it is out of our range. Dropship, come back and pick us up now. We can't let it leave and compromise our position._"

"I can handle this. This isn't a Goliath. I call this a Viking." Wendel's 'Goliath' transforms into an aircraft and easily takes out the wraith.

"**You aren't half bad yourself. Beth.**" Fry is impressed.

"_Same to you, Fry._" Beth is formal, but impressed nonetheless.

"Aw, maybe you two should get a room." Wendel feels left out.

"**I told you she's ok.**"

This is the base of operation for Beth's task force. Asset: one command centre, one dropship. That is all. Only Beth is in marine power suit. The rest are SCVs or without armour.

"_2 SCVs start repair on the dropship. The rest salvage what we can from the dead. Then everyone load up into command centre. Work fast. Just to be safe, we are leaving._" Beth orders into the comm.

"***Roger that.***"

Beth turns to Wendel and Fry.

"_We want to know why Mengsk sent a division to this planet. We need to break into the main Dominion base on this planet and find out. You guys up for the challenge?_"

"**You pay in booze?**"

"_We don't tolerate drinking on the job._"

"**And I only drink when I'm off duty. Booze mess up my aim.**"

"_I'm sure we can find some booze for you Fry._"

"**Then I'm in!**"

"_Wendel? My offer still stands. We split the spoils 50:50._"

"Tell me, why did you and Raynor leave Mengsk?"

"_We saw first hand what Mengsk really thinks of his soldiers, as pawns. He isn't the future of humanity._"

"And you think you are?"

"_No, we just try to fight for what's right._"

"That's a bit vague."

"_Yes it is. We are all learning as we go along._"

Wendel thinks for a second.

"Well as long as Fry's with you, I'm in. That guy is useless without me maintaining his suit."

"**You help but I can take out marines with my bare hands!**"

"Yes yes I'm sure you want to tell your story to some new people."

"_Welcome aboard gentlemen._"

* * *

4.

An hour later a marine in purple arrives, followed by a few dozen marines in standard Dominion red.

"This is the last known location of the squad, right?"

"That's right sir."

"I've send a dozen marines, and a wraith. Worst case scenario I expect the wraith to slip away in cloak. Something doesn't add up. The informant said they were all ground forces?"

"Yes sir. Two local criminals. One in a modified Goliath that can't fire anti-air missile. One in experimental suit that fires ground grenades. No anti air weapon. Plus the suspected rebel with Raynor. The Wraith in cloak followed the two criminals to this location. The marine squad follow from afar then engage the group. Then we lost comm with the squad."

"Hm." The Purple Marine examines the dead marines on the ground.

"You think the informant sold us out, sir?"

"No, he has been reliable on those two before. Plus he doesn't have the guts."

"***Sir, you are needed in sector 184. It is the Protoss again.***" Comes the voice on comm.

"On my way. Squad 1, comb the surrounding area for the wreckage of the wraith. Find out how they take it out. And bury the dead. You have one hour. Then join me in sector 184. The rest, move out with me."

"***Roger that sir.***"

* * *

5.

Beth wakes up from a nightmare. She dreams of the Zergs. Again.


	2. Day 2 to 4

1.

New hideout. Beth, Wendel and Fry deep in discussion.

"_So what are your plans to infiltrate the main Dominion base? Why is it so important anyway?_"

"**I worked in this base when it was under Confederacy control. It was a top secret weapon R&D lab. The scientists make all kinds of crazy toys for us to test out. Most of them don't get to see the front line. HA, giant walkers! I'd like to see 10 of those in actions at the same time.**

"**Me and my unit are the absolute best, and absolute loyal to Confederacy. Plus a garrison of Wraiths to support. So we get to keep the scientists safe. Look I know, the Confederacy isn't perfect. But at least you are free. The Dominion doesn't work like that. Mengsk made himself the emperor to rule over everyone else, to enslave us all. Hell someone as dumb as me can see that. Anyone too stupid to still follow Mengsk deserves to die. You know what I mean, Beth?**"

"_I think some people can still be persuaded. But I know what you mean. You and I disagree on the methods only, Fry._"

"**Good, that means I don't have to kill you. Anyway where was I? Oh, toys. So anyway, just after Tarsonis had gone dark, we had Zerg sightings in the polar region. Because the Zergs landed on ice, they didn't spread. So we destroyed most of them, and the scientists took a few Zergs for study. I don't know exactly what they found out, we were too busy doing patrols to ask. Then the Dominion showed up.**

"**At first it was one battlecruiser. 'Just dropping by to say the Confederacy is destroyed by the Zerg and we have to unite under Mengsk's banner yada yada yada.' They took the hint when the cloaked Wraith took out the Battlecruiser. They left us alone for a while. Then a shit load of Battlecruisers showed up and dropped off tons of ground troops. We know we were headless chickens without Tarsonis, but we weren't going down without a fight.**

"**I don't blame the scientists for surrendering to the Dominion. They have families and kids and stuff to take care. Me? All I got is my unit, and they are MY family. So we take what we can, then move out of the base. We know this planet. We know where to hide. So we use guerrilla tactics against the Dominion. Hit and run. It was good going for a while, we all stayed alive and hit the Dominion whenever we could.**

"**Then this guy showed up. He is some kind of commander in the Dominion. Wears a purple marine suit. Wherever we went, he was there, directing the troops. It was like he knew we were coming. The Dominion troops under him fought like crazy, like... us. We kept dying. In the end it was just me. So I decided to honour my unit's memory by going out like them. I packed as many explosives as I could with me, I was going to blow as many Dominion troops with me in one of the their checkpoints. For some reason the explosives didn't go off. They tried to capture me, probably saw the explosives on me and thought it wasn't a good idea to shoot me. HA! I fought them off with my bare hands. In the end I didn't remember much. Next thing I remember was waking up in Wendel's garage. He asked for my story and convinced me I shouldn't throw away my life so easily. To best honour my brothers I have to stay alive and keep fighting. He's got a point. Plus I owe him, so I can't die now.**"

Beth looks to Wendel. He is stone face and has nothing to add.

"**So if you want to get into that base, I can tell you there is only one way. By the front door. There is no secret tunnels, sewers or anything. We plugged every hole.**"

"We capture a Dominion Barrack. Disguised as Dominion marines, and walk right in."

"**My boy Wendel here is a devious one. HAHA!**"

"_That he is._"

Beth wonders about Wendel.

* * *

2.

Outlying Dominion mining base. Beth and Fry out of marine suits. Sitting on the shoulders of Wendel's Viking in walker mode. A scouting trip from afar.

"What about this base? It's got a barrack. 1, 2... 10 SCVs mining minerals, a command centre, Guarded by two full bunkers of marines and a missile turret."

"**When are we going to shoot something?**"

"_As long as they are hunkered down, only three of us can't take it._"

"Let's hear what they are saying over the comm."

"***STATICS***"

"_Well these sure are a chatty bunch._"

"Maybe they are expecting an attack?"

"_Let's scout out the other bases__._"

Wendel's Viking steps on a spider mine.

"_What was that? Are we ok?_"

"No we are NOT, the legs are holding, but we can't move"

"_Dropship, emergency evac on my location now._"

"***Copy that five by five.***"

"***WHAT WAS THAT?***"

"***SHIT IT WAS THAT MODIFIED GOLIATH!***"

"***ALL UNITS UNLOAD FROM BUNKERS, STIM AND PURSUE!***"

"_Oh crap. Dropship can you hurry this up?_"

"***As fast as we can madam.***"

"**I knew I should have dressed for this.**"

"***GRRR***"

"***GRRR***"

"***WHAT THE...***"

"***SHIT, ALL UNITS RETURN TO BUNK...***

"***AAAAAAH***"

"***WHERE ARE THEY? AHHHH***"

"***I CAN'T SEE THEM... WHA...***"

"***NOOOOO***"

All the Dominion marines are dead, plus all the SCVs are destroyed.

"_Command Centre, I need a comsat on my location._"

"***Roger that, marking cloaked units on your HUD***"

"_Let's take a closer look. Watch out for spider mines._"

"Are you crazy, we need to get out of here!"

"_Well I'm going. You two can sit here and wait._"

"**All right, at least I got a chance to shoot something.**"

"Ah crap."

Wendel exits the Viking and reluctantly joins Beth and Fry. They reach the Dominion mining base.

"**Barracks intact and functional. I'm going to suit up. I feel naked without armour.**"

"But what happened to the marines?"

"_Looks like they were cut down by blades, some from the front, some from behind._"

Beth knows something is up. Then a voice out of thin air. Wendel spins around looking for a target. Nothing.

"*You fought the Overmind on Auir.*"

"_That is correct._"

Beth is not surprised.

"*Then I have one advice for you. If you value your life, leave this planet at once.*"

Then dead silence.

"Wait, what? Who were you talking to?"

"_A Protoss._"

"I thought the Protoss is like tall, huge even."

"_That was a Dark Templar. He has permanent cloak. He took everything out by himself._"

"Wait that was just one guy?"

"_You can't kill what you can't see._"

"Shit."

"***Madam we can see you, but we can't pick you up, there is a missile turret near your location.***"

"_Ready to suit up as Dominion marine? The Protoss is doing us a favour by clearing out the marines._"

"I also heard he said something about leaving this planet at once."

"_Let's get in the base first, then we'll see._"

Fry has already suited up. Completely missed Beth's conversation with Protoss.

"**Why are you guys still standing around? Suit up and let's go already.**"

"_Dropship, pick up the Viking and return to base. Then be on standby to pick us up. We have the Dominion marine suits and are going according to plan._"

"***Roger that.***"

* * *

3.

Three Dominion Marines show up on the front gate of the main Dominion base on Planet Xian. Pleading.

"Open up! Guards, let us in! Please!"

The guards aren't convinced.

"Soldier what is your unit?"

"We were stationed 2 clicks north from here. We were on patrol. Then suddenly everyone just die. Cut down by something invisible. So we ran!"

The marine sounds frightened. Spooked. Then the Purple Marine shows up and questions them:

"Why were you three on patrol? My orders were specifically no patrol, stay inside bunkers near the missile turret and guard the SCVs."

"But we were ordered to patrol, sir."

"Damn it. You three report to base commander here. You are reassigned to this base. Squad 1, 2, 3, on me. I need 4 dropships to bring us to the mining base ASAP, in case there are survivors."

"***Roger that.***"

"Base commander, DO NOT let anyone out of the bunkers. Protect the missile turrets. Within the range of missile turret the Dark Templars will show up on your HUD. Remember that."

"***Roger that.***"

"***All right you three, the bunkers are full, so go patrol between here and here. I've marked it on your HUD.***"

"Roger that."

* * *

4.

The three Dominion marines aren't doing the patrol they are supposed to.

"**That was the Purple Marine I told you about. He may see through our ruse. The sooner we leave this place the better.**"

"I agree, we should hurry."

"_We have 15 minutes left._"

They were looking for one specific scientist they can trust.

"**Psst.**"

The scientist sounds annoyed at Dominion marines in general.

"*Look if you want us to make progress, you should leave us alone.*"

"**It's me.**"

Fry opens the helmet.

"*Shit Fry, they are looking for you all over!*"

"**And this is the last place they will look. HA! No time to talk. Take this comm. It is encrypted. We'll be in touch.**"

"*I hope you know what you are doing, for both our sakes.*"

* * *

5.

The Purple Marine and his team arrives at the now deserted mining base.

"Squad 1 load up into the bunkers ASAP. Then do a remote diagnostics on the command centre and barracks. Squad 2, 3 and dropships on me. We are going to check for survivors."

"***Roger that***"

The Purple Marine examines the corpses.

"It is the Dark Templar again. But why did the marines move out of the bunker?"

"***Sir from dropships up here we can see signs of a spider mine detonation.***"

"Any bodies?"

"***No sir, but looks like there is twisted metal from a mech.***"

"Damn it, that modified Goliath again. It was a trap. The Protoss, that two fugitives and that woman with Raynor must be working together. Squad 1, report."

"***Squad 1 here. Zero damage to the command centre. Zero damage to the barracks. Three marine suits were taken out of stock.***"

"Say again Squad 1, how many marine suits were taken out of stock?"

"***Three, sir.***"

"Shit. Base Commander, detain the three marines who just arrived at the base."

"***They are gone sir.***"

"What? How?"

"***The informant report seeing that modified Goliath near his saloon. Everyone else is loaded up in bunkers, so I send those three stray marines in a dropship to check it out. They haven't reported back yet.***"

"Can you track that dropship?"

"***Negative sir it is off the grid.***"

The Purple Marine now sounds angry. Those three slip right through his fingers.

"Squad 1 hold position and guard this base."

"***Roger that.***"

"I want 10 SCVs ready from main base ASAP. 2 dropships will pick them up and unload them here. Bury the dead, then resume mining in this base."

"***Roger that.***"

"Squad 2 and 3 on me. Dropships pick us up, we are going to pay that bartender a visit. The rest return to base."

"***Roger that.***"


	3. Day 4 to 5

1.

The Purple Marine arrives at the saloon with his entourage. Two squads of eight marines. They are spread out, cordoning the saloon.

"Why are you working with the fugitives?". The Purple Marine doesn't raise his voice. He asks.

"I don't understand, sir." The bartender looks confused.

"You are feeding us bad intel."

"Everything I said is true." Says the bartender. Hesitant. "You said keep an on those two troublemakers and report if they make a move. They did. They did after that strange woman arrived. So I reported. You said I should report if those two troublemakers show up in town. A few hours ago I saw someone dropping off that strange mech Wendel uses back to his workshop. So I reported."

"Then where is that mech now?" The Purple Marine wants to raise his voice, but didn't.

"Please sir, I don't know. It was picked up again right after I reported in." The bartender now sounds scared. "Everything I said is true sir!"

The Purple Marine is convinced, not by the bartender's words, which he already heard before, but by the bartender's expressions. He is too scared to say anything but the truth. "Tell me about that strange woman. What does she look like?"

"She is a tough looking woman. About my height. Arrived in a trench coat, cowboy boots and hat. Dress like a man, but you know that is a woman with her tied up long hair, fresh face and no beard. Her face is too clean, no dirt, looks like she just stepped off a spaceship."

"Do you have CCTV in your saloon? Maybe you have her face and voice on record." Interrupts the Purple Marine.

"No sir. We used to have one, but times are tough, so I sold it to Wendel. He buys every piece of tech. Used to buy anyway..."

The Purple Marine raises his hand to stop the bartender drifting off topic. "Any scar on her face? Distinguishing marks?"

"No... wait, she has a long scar on the back of her left palm. I saw it when she was grabbing her drinks. It looks like the scar runs into her forearm."

"Why did you say she is tough looking?"

"She had two pistols on her hips, a knife on her belt, and a rifle sling across her back. She always had at least a hand near a pistol. She ordered a meal, sat for a while. Her eyes darted around, like she was looking for trouble. She sounded friendly enough though, ordered a couple of drinks for Fry and Wendel. Ended up paying for all their drinks that day."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing sir."

The Purple Marine has heard enough. "Report to us if you see those three fugitives again. In the flesh only, not their mechs", says the purple marine while walking out.

"Please sir, I swear I'm telling you all the truth." The bartender runs after the Purple Marine. "Don't leave us alone. We've heard rumours. Invisible Protoss killing people. We heard what they did on Chau Sara. You got to help if they come for us."

"You remember that." The purple marine turns around and says, "you keep your end of bargain, we keep ours. The fugitives can't protect you against the Protoss, we can. So don't fuck with us."

"Er... yes sir." The bartender looks equally relieved and helpless.

"Squad 2 and 3 on me, dropships come pick us up and return to base."

"***Roger that.***"

* * *

2.

Dominion dropship, returning to base.

"***Base commander here, we have found the missing dropship, or what's left of it.***" Come voice on the comm.

"Any survivors?" asks the Purple Marine.

"***Everyone's alive, but the ship is gone, sir.***"

"How?"

"***Those three fugitives in marine disguise hijacked the dropship, but didn't kill anyone. They forced the dropship to land about 5 clicks south from the base, blew up the ship and forced the crew to march blind folded. There is a mining base near by so they made contact with us soon enough.***"

"Check the identity of the crew, make sure they match the record. I don't want anyone slipping into the base again."

"***Already done that sir. All of them checks out.***"

"You said the crew were blindfolded?"

"***Yes sir, those three marines said if they see the crew taking the blindfold off, they would shoot them. So they never took it off, until they were stopped by our marines guarding the mining base.***"

"Can you track those three marines?"

"***Negative sir. The crash site was desert, but their footprints never left the area. Looks like they were picked up by another dropship.***"

"Good work commander." The Purple Marine is deep in thought. Something does not add up.

"***Your new planet wide bulletin about those fugitives is ready to broadcast sir. Shoot on sight.***" Another voice on the comm.

"Cancel that bulletin. Amend the old bulletin. Do not try to capture under any circumstance. Report ASAP and wait for orders."

"***With respect sir, they killed our marines.***"

"The Protoss did, but the fugitives spared the dropship crew. Don't get distracted soldier, the Protoss are the real threat here."

"***Yes sir.***"

"Patch me to the director."

"***Roger that.***".

"Have you checked with all your scientists?"

"***Yes, they said no one in Dominion Marine suit tries to contact them.***" Apparently this is The Director.

"Let me remind you that we are the only thing standing between you and the Protoss. And the resources of the Dominion is the only thing that is keeping your precious research centre running. No one else can help you."

"***If you were not keeping us prisoners, we would have been long gone from this planet. So save your threats. Good day.***"

The Purple Marine always enjoys a nice chat with The Director.

"***Base Commander, keep a close eye on the The Director, report any suspicious activity.***"

"***Roger that.***"

* * *

3.

Hideout. Beth, Wendel and Fry out of disguise. Video-conferencing on encrypted channel to one of the scientists in the main Dominion Base.

"Who are these people Fry?" It is The Director the Purple Marine was talking to.

"**Wendel here saved my life, and Beth here is with Raynor.**" Fry tries to reassure The Director.

The Director looks at both of them, but only casts a suspicious eye on Wendel.

"Fry you know me, I need evidence."

"**The Dominion wants her more than than me.**" Fry is a little hurt while saying that. The Director laughs out loud. "**And Wendel knows how to fix your 5-4 Armored Infantry Suit and make grenades for the K-12 Grenade Launcher. That's all the proof I need.**"

"Hm. You saved Fry's life, so that's good enough." Says The Director. Good enough for now at least, thinks The Director. No one outside the R&D team is supposed to have knowledge to Fry's suit, and The Director knows Wendel certainly isn't on that team.

"_Can you tell us what the Dominion wants with this planet? It is something to do with the Zerg you found, right?_" asks Beth.

"That's right. Look all we have right now is educated guess. But we think the Zerg Brood we found is an advanced Brood. An R&D brood if you like, just like we are a R&D lab.

"We know that Zerg Hatchery spawns larvae. The suspected reason why larvae can become any kind of Zerg is because larvae contains all the genetic material to spawn any kind of Zerg. So think of the larvae as the Zerg's equivalent to stem cell in human.

"With the right prompt, a larvae can become anything. The Zerg structure provides the stimulus. So the larvae can turn into Zerglings only when there is a Spawning Pool, because Spawning Pool generate that particular stimulus. Take Spawning Pool out and larvae can't turn into Zerglings. Same principle applies to Hydralisk Den and so on.

"What's so special about the hatchery of this Brood is that its larvae does not need Zerg structures for stimulus. Stimulate the Hatchery for this Brood directly, and the larvae will respond. For example, if we shock the Hatchery, its larvae will spawn a zerg we have never seen before. If we burn the hatchery a bit, its larvae will spawn another kind of zerg.

"Most of the Zerg spawned these way are very short-lived. Think of these random Zerg spawns as random mutation of human cells. Most of the time random mutation is an evolutionary dead end. But once in a while, these random Zerg spawns can be a super powerful Zerg. Just like random mutation of human cells can become cancer cells.

"Once a random Zerg spawns is considered useful and powerful, the Hatchery remembers exactly what stimulus produced this. The drone spawns from this hatchery can now evolve to produce a structure that consistently produce this specific stimulus that turns larvae into this new kind of Zerg. Now this new Zerg strain can be mass produced, and across the entire Zerg Brood. We speculate this is how Zerg develop new units: by continuously stimulating hatcheries of this Brood in random ways. It is like forced evolution."

"For a long time the Hatchery we collected from the polar region is uncooperative. That means it doesn't do anything. But that changed when we hear reports from other systems that Zerg broods have gone mad. It responds to stimulus and starts randomly spawning drones and look for minerals."

"_I think that's around the time we killed the Overmind._" Beth explains.

"Wait what are you talking about, what is this Overmind?" The Director has never heard of this before.

"_The Overmind controls all Zergs. Once it is dead, Zergs become rampant, unruly. I think the Overmind knows you have captured this Brood, and it ordered the Brood to do nothing in order to keep its secret safe. Once the Overmind is gone this Brood just lives on survival instincts._"

"How do you know about the Overmind?" The Director is now a bit sceptical.

"_The Protoss, well one Protoss touched the mind of Overmind and learned from it._"

"Wait, Protoss, what do THEY have to do with the Zerg? They can communicate directly with Zerg?"

"_Look if you want evidence, you'd have to ask a very shadowy Protoss about it. Otherwise you just have to take my word for it._"

"Hm... I've got to think about this some more, and I've got to tell everyone about this." The Director now seems a bit distract by these new information.

"_And I think the Protoss knows about this Brood as well, directly from the Overmind. And they want to destroy it. They probably think it is too dangerous to be kept alive._"

"I don't think Mengsk cares about the Zerg enough to send a division here. He probably would prefer to nuke all the Zergs from orbit just to be sure. All he cares about is the weapons R&D labs." Wendel finally has something to say. "The Protoss forced his hands."

"_Yes, you have a point. All these Zergs knowledge is fascinating, but it won't translate into battlefield advantage any time soon._" Says Beth.

"Fry, I heard about what happened to the rest of the guys. I'm sorry." The Director finally has some time to catch up with Fry.

"**Appreciated. The Dominion and that Purple Marine is going to be sorry.**" Fry looks sad, then angry.

"I better stop 'talking to myself' in the toilet. Contact me if you got something important."

"_It's been a long day guys, get some rest._" says Beth. "_Command centre, when can we connect to the Hyperion?_"

"***In about 12 hours. We are on the dark side.***"

"_Copy that._"

* * *

4.

Beth dreams about the Zergs again. A hydralisk. Its face morphs in the shape of Kerrigan's. Then Kerrigan morphs into the Queen of Blades.

DON'T BE AFRAID. EMBRACE IT.


	4. Day 6 Part 1

1.

Main Dominion Base. The Purple Marine in video-conference with his superior. It is General Warfield.

"**Status report, Colonel Zilong.**" Warfield ask the Purple Marine.

"Weapons R&D labs are operational. We are field testing the prototypes as much as we can against the Protoss. Xian is rich in mineral and gas, but the desert weather doesn't attract colonists, so we have to use our own SCVs for mining. But we are self sufficient." Says the Colonel.

"**Good. Any trouble with the scientists?**"

"Negative. As long as we let them research the Zergs, they will work on the weapons."

"**Look I send you here because you have the people skills to handle the scientists. Don't let me down.**"

"Yes sir."

"**The Protoss, they haven't make any significant move?**"

"Negative. All reports suggested they were in disarray after the fall of their home planet, I don't think they can mount a major attack."

"**Good, but you know how important R&D is to us, so stay alert.**"

"Yes sir."

"**We have reports of an unidentified Terran fleet skirting around this sector. Say it is huge, massive. So we have to take away all your Battlecruisers and everything else you can spare to reinforce Augustgrad.**"

"Understood sir."

"**What about Raynor's men**?"

"All reports suggest it is just a scouting party."

"**Good. Raynor is probably also preparing for the unidentified Terran fleet, so they shouldn't give you any trouble. Any news on the traitor?**"

"Apparently he made contact with Raynor's party. But we haven't captured him yet."

"**The Emperor wants him captured alive, but if he really turned against us, he is too dangerous to be kept alive. He was our spy in this planet, so he knows this planet AND our strategy. And if he runs with Raynor, he is even more dangerous. Like I said before, use your discretion, I'll back you. But it's the Emperor's call. Capture is the first priority.**"

"Understood sir."

* * *

2.

It is video-conference day on Xian. This time it is Beth calling Jim Raynor.

"Beth I've read your report." Says Jim Raynor. "Job well done. But before we bring you home, what more can you say about the scientists? Are they willing to defect? We have to do something about them, we can't let the Dominion get its hands on them and the weapons R&D labs going."

"_I don't think there is anything we can do. They were guarded by a significant Dominion forces. This morning we saw quite a few of them moved out, but the base still looked packed._"

"Yes, about that. We got reports of a Terran fleet entering this sector. They says they are from Earth! I still can't believe it. Called themselves United Earth Directorate. Mengsk is probably mobilizing everything to defend his little castle. I'll brief you as we know more."

"_Thanks._"

"Keep the scientists on side with us. I'm sure most of them don't like Mengsk very much. But I think we need to take out that stray Zerg brood. They sound too dangerous."

"_I agree, but it is the same with weapons R&D labs, nothing we can do about it. About the Zerg, there is one last thing. It is about Kerrigan._"

"What about her?"

"_I think she is still alive._"

"How would you know this? Based on the general Zerg behaviour after the Overmind is dead, I'd say she's gone crazy. Even more than before."

"_You know what happened on New Gettysburg right?_"

"Beth, you don't have to beat yourself up over this again."

"_No, let me explain. I was the dropship that was supposed to pick her up. But I followed orders to pull out. I thought someone else must have picked her up._" Beth pasues. "_Then I heard Kerrigan's voice. Not on the comm but IN MY HEAD. She asked where I was. Some how I knew how she felt. I felt the way she looked at the sky for a sign of my dropship. I felt her despair as thousands of Zergs rushing towards her. Then suddenly, nothing._

"_At the time and for a long time I thought it was just hallucination, too many hours awake. But I had the same kind of sensations last night. I can feel she is alive. She is that... thing again._"

"***Madam we have an emergency, it is the Zerg.***" Voice on the comm interrupts.

"_What? Look Jim it is not a coincident. I'll get back to you ASAP. Over and out._"

Everyone is outside looking at the sky. It is dotted with Mutalisks, thousands of them. They are not attacking, but in orbit. Waiting for something.

"**Do they poo like pigeons? If they do, then we'll be covered in Muta shits very soon.**" Says Fry.

"I think we are in deep shit either way." Says Wendel.


	5. Day 6 Part 2

1.

The Colonel does not understand why the Zergs aren't attacking. So he consults with the Zerg experts.

"Based on what we can see, these Zergs aren't feral. They also dropped out of warp space, so something must be controlling them. We know that cerebrate is the overall commander of a Zerg Brood, so a cerebrate must part of the Zerg swarm here." Says the head of Zerg research, accompanied by The Director. "As to why it is not attacking, we simply do not know. Maybe for strategic reason? War is not my domain I'm afraid."

"I can't think of any strategic reason." Says the Colonel. "Based on what we can see, there are enough Mutalisks to destroy every Dominion base on Xian. If they want all of us dead, they can do it already. As far as we can tell from our patrols, there is NO Zerg ground unit. NO creep."

"Maybe it is the Protoss. They are the wild card here." Suggests the Director. "They are here for quite a while and we simply don't know where their base is or how many of them are here. I think the Zerg just don't want to mess with them. For now at least."

"I see your point." Says the Colonel. He is surprised and impressed with The Director's strategic acumen. "But what do Zergs want from this planet?"

"The obvious reason is that they want what we have, the special Brood we are studying." Says the head of Zerg research. "Or the Protoss. Or they just need the resources on this planet. Who knows? There are just too many plausible motives at this point."

"Isn't it time for us to JUST LEAVE?" Asks the Director.

"If the R&D lab can also move, then we can leave. But it can't, so we stay." Says the Colonel. What the Colonel doesn't add is that even if they want to leave, they don't have the spaceships to do so. It would take quite a few battlecruisers to break the Zerg flyer blockade, quite a few that was just taken off the Colonel's hands.

"We can't hold out against that many Zergs. We HAVE to leave." Says the Director.

"No. Leave the base defense to me, you just continue your research." The Colonel says. "Especially the weapons lab, we need it more than ever."

* * *

2.

"All mining bases, report" Says the Colonel.

"***Mining base 1. We are on schedule. No signs of Zerg or Protoss.***" Comes the voice on comm.

"***Mining base 2. We will be mined out soon. No signs of hostiles.***"

"We will send transports to you when you are done, and an escort for the command centre" Says the Colonel.

"***Roger that.***"

"***Mining base 3. We've just established bunkers and missile turret. Waiting for reinforcements."

"We will send you a siege tank and transfer 11 SCVs for mining. Make sure the tank is deployed next to the missile turret."

"***Roger that.***"

"Base commander, how many siege tanks we have right now?"

"***5, and we are making 1 every two hours.****

"Good, make sure to send one to Mining base 3. As soon as they are manufactured, deploy a siege tank next to every missile turret in the base. One tank per missile turret only. Call me again when the total count of siege tank is 20."

"***Sir, do we need that many? 10 is enough to turn every Zergs coming our way into Zerg paste.***"

"The extras are for the offensive. Be ready." Says the Colonel. "What about the Thor?"

"***We still have trouble adapting our factory to mass produce it sir.***"

"Keep at it."

"***Roger that.***"

"***Sir every mayor on this planet is asking us to evacuate their town.***" Says another voice on the comm.

"Tell them the situation hasn't changed. We will evacuate them as soon as we can." Says the Colonel. "Mining Base 4. What is your status? Repeat, Mining Base 4, status report."

"***It is the Protoss sir, they got some kind of mech we've never seen before... WATCH OUT THE STALKERS ARE ATTACKING AGAIN.*** The voice is frantically cut off.

"Base commander, I need 3 SCVs, a siege tank, a squad of 8 marines and 3 dropships ready. I will lead them to reinforce Mining Base 4 myself."

"***But sir, we need you in the base. What if the Zerg attack?***" Says the voice on the comm.

"You will be in charge until I come back. Don't let me down."

"***Yes sir.***"

* * *

3.

"_Look the Dominion aren't doing a damn thing about the colonists, we have to do something._" Says Beth.

"There is nothing TO DO about the colonists when we ourselves are fucked. We got no way off this planet. We need a sizable fleet just to break that Zerg blockade. It may sound crazy, but our best chance of survival is to surrender to the Dominion. At least they have a defensible base." Explains Wendel.

"**Are you nuts? They would kill us all.**" Fry can't believe what he is hearing.

"No they won't. They want to capture us, not kill us. Look we were dealt a very bad hand, with this Zerg swarm over us. We have to live and fight another day."

"_There is another way. We use the Command Centre to expand. We set up a base in this rich mining town. Then we build up our infrastructure with the help of the colonists. Make a few battlecruisers, load every one on board, then I coordinate with Raynor and we break out of this planet._"

"You think we have TIME to make battlecruisers?"

"_That's why we need the colonists. They have the manpower, we have the technology. At this point we have to try._"

"You think Raynor would risk his fleet to save a bunch of colonists?" Wendel is still sceptical.

"_Yes. Look, at this point you two are free to go. But me and my crew have made up our mind._"

Wendel thinks for a while.

"This could work. But only if the Zerg or Protoss don't attack while we set up. Once we are set up, we can draft colonists to defend the town."

"**What about the Dominion? Won't they wipe us out as soon as we show our hands?**" asks Fry.

"_I don't think they will. Obviously they got their hands full already preparing for the Zergs, they won't waste people on us._"

"Yes I agree."

"_So are you two in or out?_"

"**I'll rather die fighting than rotting in a cell. You can count on me Beth!**" Fry says while he pounds his chest.

Wendel is still thinking.

"All right, I'm in. You have a better chance of success with me than without me." Finally says Wendel.


	6. Day 7

1.

Radcliffe. Major mining town on Xian. The main street is lined up with prefabricated housing. But right now the street is deserted, except some tumbleweed traffic jam. Beth, Wendel and Fry stroll into town without armour, with all but pistols in their holsters. The command centre and dropship are hovering behind them from a distance.

"**Are you sure this will work? I feel naked without my marauder suit.**" Fry whispers to Beth.

"_We come in peace right? In these nervous times, if we come suited up, they may just shoot us without even asking questions._" Explains Beth.

Wendel's eyes are darting around, looking for trouble. Then trouble shows up.

Several Dominion marines come out of some prefabs. Guns pointing at the trio. The trio stop walking.

Finally a grey hair man comes out of a prefab.

"What do you folks want?" Asks the grey hair man coldly.

"_We are prospectors from off-world. Obviously you know what's happening._" Says Beth while pointing at the sky and clouds of Mutalisks. "_We got a plan to get off this planet, but we need your help._"

The grey hair man waves his hands. The Dominion Marines stop pointing their guns and get back indoors.

"Come on in." Says the grey hair man, waving them inside to what apparently is his house. "I'm the mayor of this town. What plan do you have in mind?"

"**Wait, those Dominion Marines, what's the deal with them?**" Asks Fry.

"No, they aren't those useless Dominion marines. They are the sheriff and his deputies." Says the mayor. "You see, the Dominion do not think we are important enough to evacuate us into their main base, so they just send a Barracks our way and say 'arm yourselves and hang in there, we'll come for you eventually' blah blah blah. I should have know they are no better than the Confederacy."

"At least they sent you something." Says Wendel. "And this is the gratitude they get?"

"What good does it do when a swarm of Zerglings are coming for us?" Says the mayor. "We don't have enough people to defend the town. Now get to the point, how to you plan on getting off planet?"

"_As you can see we have a Command Centre._" Says Beth. "_With the minerals and gas near town, We plan to build a Starport and then Battlecruisers to get off-world. But we need manpower, and we need to work fast. We also have a dropship, we can to ferry as many colonists here for evacuation, to work on the Starport and to defend this town._"

"You need a science facility and a physics lab to make Battlecruiser. I used to work in a shipyard." Asks the mayor. "How do you plan on getting that?"

"_We have contacts amongst the scientists in the main Dominion base. They can help._" Says Beth.

"Hm this may work." Says the mayor after some thoughts. "I'll have to talk to our own folks and then other mayors about this first. In the mean time, make yourself at home."

"_One last thing, we are not exactly on friendly terms with the Dominion._"

"And we ain't on friendly terms with the Dominion either." Says the mayor, sneering.

* * *

2.

The Colonel and reinforcements are arriving at Mining Base 4. A squad of 8 marines and the Colonel are spread out in 2 dropships.

The command centre is intact but is burning down. Supposedly there are two bunkers guarding the command centre and a missile turret, the bunkers are now rubble. All but two marines inside are dead. The remaining two are leaning by the missile turret firing at 4 unidentified Protoss walkers. The 4 Protoss walkers are firing at the marines.

"Dropships set us down near the missile turret." Says the Colonel. "Combat drop marines, get ready!"

The walkers stop firing at the marines on the ground and start firing at the dropship. They hit the dropship the Colonel is in.

"Shit, status report!" Barks the Colonel. He can see what's happening on the ground because the Protoss blew a big hole on the hull.

"***Engines are fine sir. We can still take a few hits.***"

The Colonel immediately starts firing his C-14 rifle from the hole and at the walkers.

"Fire at the walkers marines!"

The marines follow his lead and start firing from the hole. This drives the Protoss walkers back, and allows the dropship to unload the marines safely.

"Command Centre, take off immediately and return to base!" Orders the Colonel. "Squad 1, set up a perimeter around the missile turret. Dropship, stand by."

"***Roger that.***"

"Soldiers what happened here?" The Colonel asks the marines stationed in this base.

"The Protoss. These things move faster and shoot faster than Dragoon. And those thing's firing range is longer than us. So they can hit us but we can't hurt them." One marine says. His suits have multiple breaches. "We try to charge out and close the distance to make our weapons effective again, but when those things see us coming, they immediately retreat just enough so our weapons aren't effective. Those things are stalking us."

"What happened to the SCVs?" Ask the Colonel.

"As soon as the shooting starts I ordered them to load into the command centre. The rest died trying to repair the bunkers." Says the other marine stationed here, who can barely stand.

"Did the Stalkers try to attack the missile turret?" Asks the Colonel.

"Negative."

"Good job. One last battle and we'll get you home." Says the Colonel.

"***Sir, the Stalkers are coming back.***" Says the voice on the comm.

"All right Marines, stay with me and follow my lead!" Says the Colonel. "SCVs, start repairing the burning command centre."

"***But sir, the Dark Templars...***"

"They aren't here. Not today." Says the Colonel.

"***Roger that.***"

The Colonel and the marines slowly walk away from the missile turrets. The 4 Stalkers are getting closer.

"All units FIRE!"

The shields of the four Stalkers are immediately damaged.

The attack comes not from the marines, but from the Siege Tank the Colonel deployed on a hill top nearby before they arrived at the mining base. It has been holding fire until then.

"All marines stim!" Ordered the Colonel. He then rush the Stalker closet to him and unload on it. The rest of the marines follow suit. The increase in speed and fire rate from the stim allows the Colonel and the marines to immediately take down one Stalker.

The remaining three Stalkers realise it is a trap and try to flee, but the second volley from the siege tank damages them even more. The Colonel and the marines rush towards the next Stalker and unload on it. Then another. Then another. Until all Stalkers are destroyed.

* * *

3.

"SCVs, status report." Ask the Colonel immediately after all four Stalkers are dead.

"***We have stabilised the command centre***" Says the voice on comm.

"Good. Command Centre land, unload and resume mining. I want 2 SCVs to rebuild the two bunkers next to missile turret, 2 SCVs repair the dropship, then resume mining. The rest repair command center then resume mining. Siege Tank, unsiege and redepoly next to missile turret."

"***Roger that.***"

"Squad 1, defend this base. With the siege tank you don't need to worry about the Stalkers. Guard it well."

"***Roger that.***"

"***Sir how did you know there isn't any Dark Templar?***" Asks a voice on comm.

"Because the stalkers did not attack the missile turret. If the Dark Templar were in the mix, their first priority would probably be the missile turret, not their last like this time. Though next time, the Protoss will probably mix in some Dark Templar with their Stalkers attack, so don't get sloppy."

"***Roger that.***"

The Colonel examines the dead Stalkers.

"Dropship, pick up all the remains of the Stalkers. We will let the scientist have a look at them."

"***Roger that.***"

* * *

4.

Beth and the Director have been in conversation over encrypted channel for a while already. The Director is talking in the toilet to avoid suspicion.

"Your plan MAY work, assuming the Zerg or Protoss don't attack now." Says the Director. "But giving you the data to build Battlecruisers is a huge ask. We aren't exactly a public library here."

"_So what other plans do you have getting off this planet?_" Asks Beth.

"We don't. From what I can tell, the Colonel's plan of defence is sound. We can hold out. I don't particularly like him but he is honourable and very capable. His only major flaw is his fondness for the Dominion."

"_So you have no problem seeing colonists wiped out by the Zerg?_"

"The Colonel said he would help them when the time comes, just not now, and he is a man of his words. But... there is one thing you can do for me..."

"_Go on._"

"I'll give you the coordinates. There is a ranch there. I want you to evacuate everybody there. And you guard them well in your base."

"_Who are they?_"

"Let's just say I don't trust you enough to tell you at this point, but I trust you enough to ask this from you. Do that and I'll try my best to get you the data."

Beth thinks for while.

"_All right._"

* * *

5.

The Colonel has just arrived back in the base.

"Base commander, why is the Director not returning my calls? We have the remains of advanced Protoss walker and she is not interested?"

"***The Director said she shouldn't be disturbed while in the toilet, sir.***"

"I called her 30 mins ago and all the time she is in the toilet?"

"***Yes sir.***"

"I asked you to keep an eye on The Director for any suspicious activity, don't you think going to toilet for over 30 minutes counts as suspicious activity?"

"***Er... I don't think so, sir...***"

"Do YOU normally go to the toilet for 30 minutes?" The Colonel is getting a bit annoyed.

"***Er... No sir...***"

"So let me ask again, don't you think the Director going to toilet for over 30 minutes is suspicious?"

"***Er... but she is a woman, sir...***"

"You don't have sisters, wife, mom?"

"***Er... no sir. Orphaned at young age with no siblings. Grew up in boy's orphanage. Still single... sir.***"

"I can tell you right here and now, it is NOT normal for ANYBODY to go to toilet for 30 minutes. And you should immediately check on her to see if she is all right. And that is EXACTLY what I will do." Now the Colonel is outright livid.

* * *

6.

"...yes based on the new information, I think we have to reevaluate our model for Zerg creep spread and ascribe more weight to strategic factors..."

The Director was talking to a colleague in her office. The Colonel just enters without knocking.

"Leave us." The Colonel says.

The other scientist flees immediately.

"How are you today?" The Colonel asks coldly.

"I'm fine thank you." The Director knows something is up. The Colonel never chit-chats.

"We need the scientists to take a look at the unknown Protoss walkers ASAP. Find out their strengths and weakness."

"Thank you for bringing them to us. We don't have Protoss experts on staff per se but I've assigned our weapon experts to take a look at them. And with your marine's testimony, we shall have preliminary findings soon."

"My men reported that you were feeling unwell. You had been in the toilet for 30 minutes and refused all calls."

"Yes. Constipation. You know how it is. I need time to concentrate, more than ever." The Director has a pre-planned answer already.

"Our medic can prescribe you some laxative. We need you at 100%."

"No I'm fine, we have our own doctors. Anything else Colonel? We are rather busy."

"No that is all." Says Colonel and exits the office.

What the Colonel does not say is that The Director contradicted herself. The Colonel suspects Raynor's people made contact not just with any scientist but the head of the scientists. But the Colonel doesn't see the point of confronting her. Not yet.

"Base Commander. Next time, when the Director goes to the toilet and refuses all calls, report to me immediately. And draft some female dropship pilots for armed guard duty, get them to stand by at all times." Says the Colonel.

"***Roger that sir.***"


	7. Day 14 Part 1

1.

Radcliffe. It's been seven days since the Zerg swarm has arrived, and five days since Raynor's Raiders has establish a mining base here. This mining town is turning into a refugee camp.

"_Good morning everyone. Progress report. Fry let's start with you._" Says Beth in Radcliffe mayor's house along with half a dozen people.

"**We finally have enough people to man all the bunkers and establish a 12 hours shift.**" Says Fry. "**Those Dominion Barracks aren't bad. Definitely an improvement over the old ones. Its Marine suit can be handled by almost anyone, so we have the numbers.**"

"_Are they ready for Zerg attack?_"

"**Hell no. These colonists are rugged folks. They all know how to shoot. But I think they will shit in their pants the moment they see a charging Zergling horde. They need experience, and guard duty can't give them any. But I've been telling them stories though...**"

"_And the Starport?_"

"We now have the control tower. We have enough people to start manufacturing Battlecruisers. Now we just need the schematics." Says Wendel.

"_How is the town holding up, Mayor?_"

"It's as good as it can be. People are tense, but they got a purpose, so no one's complaining." Says the Mayor.

"_Any problem with logistics?_"

"No madam. Most colonists heed our call and bring extra supplies with them. And our mining can cover the short falls." Reply the head of logistics.

"_Any Zerg movement?_"

"No madam. The Mutas are still in orbit. No sign of Zerg ground unit. And still no creep." Answers the head scout.

"_Any more colonists coming our way?_"

"I think that's about it, madam. The numbers were dropping dramatically yesterday already." Answers the head of traffic control.

"_The coordinate I gave you, you check it out right?_" Beth asks Wendel.

"Yeah I checked it out from the air as soon as you gave me the coordinates. The ranch looked deserted."

"Fry, send me 4 of your guards that are most ready for combat. We will check it out on foot."

"**What, I'm not going?**"

"_You need to stay here with these folks. You are as close to a general as we have right now. They need you if something comes up._"

"**Grrrrr...**"

"_Wendel, keep working on the Starport. Start manufacturing as many dropships as you can spare. In case the Zergs come for the colonists, we will have to move everyone to the Dominion base on those dropships._"

"Will do. Are you sure you can get the schematics for Battlecruiser?"

"_No, so we need an exit strategy. YOUR exit strategy, Wendel._"

"**There is no way I am surrendering to the Dominion!**" Says Fry angrily.

"_No, you and I will die protecting the flanks of the colonists. So cheer up Fry!_"

"**HAHA!**"

* * *

2.

Dropship. En route to the coordinate given by the Director. Beth suited up in a blue marine suit. The four others in standard Dominion red.

"_So, have you folks seen any combat before?_"

"No madam. We are just the Sheriffs in the various towns." Says one.

"*The most excitement I've seen is stopping a armed bank robbery. Nobody got hurt though.*" Says another, then he realises he shouldn't have said it.

"But we are ready madam."

"***Madam we have arrived.***" comes the voice on the comm.

"_Set us down 100m from the ranch. We will proceed on foot. Stand by for orders._"

"***Roger that.***"

"_Spread out and follow my lead._"

"Roger that madam."

They walk slowly towards the apparently deserted ranch.

Then a shot comes from a ranch house. Lands on the feet of Beth. The four sheriffs are readying to fire.

"_Don't shoot!_" Beth is saying as much to the sheriffs as she is saying to her unseen attacker.

"You Dominion aren't welcome here. Leave." Says a voice from the ranch house.

"_Look we are not from the Dominion._"

"Then why are you folks in Dominion red?"

"_Return to the dropship, I'll handle it from here._" Beth says to the four sheriffs. They are relieved to be off the hook. Then Beth shouts towards the ranch. "_Someone asks me to come here and get everybody to safety._"

"I want to talk to that someone."

Beth calls the Director on her encrypted comm.

* * *

3.

"***Sir, the Director just refused all calls and she has gone to the toilet. You wanted me to notify you, sir.***" Says the Base Commander.

"Cordon off the area. Send me the female guards. I'll meet them there." The Colonel immediately springs into action and reaches the area.

"I want you to go in there normally, then come out and report what you hear."

"*Yes sir.*" says one of the female guards.

A minute later.

"*Sir, it sounds like someone is struggling. Constipation probably.*" The female guard is somewhat bemused.

"Base Commander, is there any unauthorised communication coming in or out of my location?"

"***Yes sir.***"

"Can you tap into the communication?"

"***No sir, it is heavily encrypted and we can't break it in real time.***"

"Can you trace the signal?"

"***Yes sir. It is 11 clicks north of our base.***"

"Hm." It does not come from Radcliffe, the Colonel thinks. "Stand guard outside this toilet. As soon as the Director is out, escort her to me."

"*Roger that.*" Says the female guards.

* * *

4.

Beth is video calling the Director.

"Mom!" A young boy, 15-16 years old, darts out of the ranch house and towards Beth as soon as he sees the Director's image, his hand still holding a rifle.

"Jesus Wade no!" Other voices shout from the ranch house, then two boys and two girls about the same age as the first boy come after him, all with rifles aiming at Beth. Beth is amused.

"Wade! Are you all right?" Says the Director over the video link.

"Yes I am fine." Says Wade.

"And the others?"

"Yes they are fine too."

Everybody have now stop aiming at Beth and instead start crowding Beth. "Hi Julia! How's my mom and dad?" "Hey Julia how's my sister?" etc.

"All of them are fine. Kids get back inside. It's not safe in the open. And let me look at each of you." Says the the Director. And the crowd gets in the ranch house. "Let me talk to the woman first, ok?"

"Ok."

"Where the hell were you? You were supposed to come here pronto!" The Director says to Beth, she looks equally relieved and angry.

"_Look we scouted the ranch from the air first thing, it looked deserted. And we have to fortify our base. We come here in person as soon as we can._" Says Beth.

"Yeah we were pretty good at hiding. We do as you taught us Julia!" One of the kids interjects. "Wade wanted to fight that Viking and we said hell no, he's going to lose!"

"I guess I should have been more specific." Says the Director to Beth. "At least you didn't SHOOT any of them."

"_If I had brought Fry, he could have._" Says Beth, still amused.

"No, they would just come with you without a fight." Says the Director.

"Fry is with you? Where is he?" Asks Wade energetically.

"Look kids, listen to this woman for now. And when you see Fry, listen to him. I have to go. Stay safe." Says the Director. Then the call ends.

"_Pack as many supplies as you can, and pack everything else you need. We are leaving on the dropship._" Says Beth to the kids.

"I'll bring my Viking along. I'll follow your dropship."

Wade goes out of the house and pull over a cover. Underneath is another Viking, just like Wendel's.

Beth now seriously wonders how Wendel got his hands on one of those.

* * *

5.

The Directors stops playing the constipation recording. She is in tears. Tears of joy, but she dare not let anyone hear or see her. She composes herself, cleans herself up in the front of the mirror, and put on her game face. She knows that the Colonel knows.

* * *

6.

"Have a seat." Says the Colonel. Without his distinctive purple marine suit, he is wearing his regulation Dominion uniform.

"Thank you." Says the Director. "To what do I owe the dubious pleasure?"

"You have been communicating with outside parties. You owe us an explanation." Says the Colonel.

At this point the Director does not know how much the Colonel knows, so she tries to give away as little as possible herself.

"I assume you have evidence to back it up?"

"You were talking to them while you were in the toilet."

"Yes."

...

"We could have evacuated your son, and other family members of the scientists." Says the Colonel, after what seems like eternity. He is hoping the Director would show her hands first, but he decides to finally take the initiative.

The Director is relieved. At least the Colonel doesn't know about her connection with Beth and Fry. Yet.

"We moved them out of the base to keep them AWAY from you, Colonel."

"Away from the Dominion, you mean. To protect them."

"Yes."

"No, we could have protected them. We still can."

"They are safe where they are, for now. Our sons and daughters are no more or less important than other sons and daughters of colonists out there. So If you want to protect them, protect those of the colonists as well."

"You know we have to bolster base defence first. And we have to find a counter to the mass Mutalisks. The Thor will come in handy, and when we have enough Thor, we can help the colonists."

"Besides, our family will just become hostages to you."

"No they won't. If having family members around help the scientists to function better, we will allow everybody to stay together in the science facility."

"Do I have your word on this?"

"Yes."

The Director is surprised at the generosity. Perhaps not all Dominion soldiers are jackbooted thugs after all.

"I will have to consult with my colleagues."

"By all means. And please, no need to hide in the toilet. It is embarrassing. Just talk to your son in your office. It will also make me feel better."


	8. Day 14 Part 2

1.

The Director's office in the science facility. It is an office with four glass walls. Everyone can see what is happening inside. Now it is crowded with scientists wanting to talk to their family outside the base. The colonel and his senior advisers have gathered in another glass office nearby. The advisers are the Colonel's intelligence officer and the Base Commander. The Colonel is the overall commander of the entire Dominion Armed forces on this planet. They are watching those scientists.

"So can we all agree that it is better to let The Director off the hook, for now?" Asks the Colonel. "Look we know who the three fugitives are, we know it is highly probable they made contact with one of the scientists, and very probably the Director of the science facility. We just don't know why she would trust any of those fugitives."

Explains the intelligence officer. "Beth, is the easiest to rule out. She is from off-world, with Raynor's Raider. If not for our troop movement she probably wouldn't even be here. That brute, Fry is a prime suspect because they served in the same base but he is just that, a brute. Nothing on record says they know each other. Our traitor, Wendel is another suspect. His reports to us indicated he hacked his way into the science facility. He also has the perfect cover to acquire stray tech. He is a mechanic, he needs all the parts he can find. While it is possible he also uses social engineering techniques to gain access to computers, his reports never mentioned him doing human intelligence.

"Maybe the Director really IS just talking to her son all along." Says the Base Commander.

"That's the best case scenario for us." Says Colonel. "Worst case scenario is she is telling the fugitives EVERYTHING she knows about this base."

"But right now the fugitives are not a threat, and if we want to crush them, we can do it any day." Says the Base Commander. "The have no siege tank, but we have plenty, so they will lose, always. And they can't make siege tank. They put everything into their starport. With the Protoss sneaking around and the Zerg hovering above us, there is absolutely no reason to give those aliens ideas about attacking us while we move out and engage the fugitives."

"Exactly." Says the Colonel. "Best course of action is sit tight."

"So in the worst case scenario, even if the fugitives knows this base down to what we ate for dinner last night, we are still pretty ok." Says the Base Commander.

"Yes." Says the Colonel.

"Yeah I agree, it is ok for now to let the Director off the hook." Says the Base Commander.

"If the fugitives get their hands on her son, that worries me". Says the intelligence officer. "They will have leverage over her. That makes her their pawn. Especially if Wendel is in the equation, I'm worried. You don't get to be a saint being a Dominion spy for so long and be so successful. Active sabotage?"

"Sabotage gains them nothing. They don't have the manpower to attack us. There is a better chance the aliens wipe them out long before they wipe us out." Says the Base Commander.

"I'm sold, let her off the hook for now, we got better things to worry about." Says the intelligence officer.

"But why did Wendel betray us anyway?" Asks the Base Commander. "He was with the Emperor even before the Dominion, and now he suddenly flipped? Doesn't make sense."

"One day he just blew up a holo statue of the Emperor in a checkpoint. The same checkpoint that Fry attacked alone. Bad day in the office maybe?" Says the intelligence officer. "Property damage is a petty crime, aiding and abating fugitives isn't. But... the Emperor wants him captured, so he will be captured."

The scientists have been looking at the Colonel and his brain trusts while they are in deep discussion.

* * *

2.

The Director's office. After everyone has taken turn talking to their family, they are discussing their next move. They are looking at the the Colonel and his advisers looking at them.

"They have our sons and daughters, we have to do what they want now. This is just as if the Dominion have them." Says one scientists, looking concerned.

"Yeah, it is worse, they are out there in that so-called rebel base. Yeah I heard about them. The base is a joke. They would be much safer with the Colonel than with them." Says another.

"Fry's with them, and Beth seems reasonable enough." Says the Director.

"Fry can't fight a Zerg horde."

"And what about that Wendel guy?"

"About him. Who owns the data on the marauder suit?" Asks the Director.

"I do." One scientist raises his hand.

"Did someone hack your computer?" Asks the Director. "Because that Wendel somehow has the blueprint to that prototype. Or at least knows enough to make ammunitions for it and fix it. Here is his picture." Says the Director. She recorded his face during her video conference with Beth, Fry and Wendel.

"Hey this is my town mechanic. My vulture had all kinds of problems and he fixed them all."

"Maybe he fixes them then create another problem? To milk you dry?" Says the Director.

"Er... could be... I'm not exactly an expert on vulture, but I did spend quite a bit on fixing it..." This scientist now sounds defensive.

"So he knew where you lived right? He could have hacked your computer while you were away, then installed a backdoor into our network." Continues the Director.

"It is possible..." Now he feels a bit stupid.

"And he IS around even during the Confederacy days, right?"

"Right."

"That guys looks like trouble. Corporate hacker probably. I think it is best if we check for malware and worm in our computers again, and any unusual network traffic."

"Let's get back to those so called rebels. I'd say let them have the schematics for the Battlecruiser. But in return we must have our family back. And we take up the Colonel's offer."

"He may not keep his promise if he finds out we give the rebel the Battlecuiser schematics." The Director points out.

"We'll just have to keep secret about that trading state secret part."

"Are you sure the Colonel can't hear us? He obviously has bugs in your office."

"This office has active voice cancellation." Says the Director." Your mouthpiece is recording your voice and immediately broadcast a second voice that neutralise the first. Destructive interference. So we can hear our voice only in through our earpiece, but if you listen into the room, you can hear almost nothing. I got a portable version working as well. Just keep covering your mouth so they can't read your lips."

"Hey, where did the Colonel go?"

* * *

3.

Radcliffe. Beth's dropship is back in town. Beth is showing Wade and kids of the other scientists around.

"Hey Fry!" Wade says enthusiastically when he sees Fry.

"**Hey buddy!**" Fry gives Wade a fist bump while suited as a Firebat, and then Fry greets every one of Wade's gang the same way.

"**Kids, I've got to go. Something has come up. Listen to Beth ok?**" Says Fry. "**Beth can I talk to you for a second?**"

"_Why are you in a Firebat suit?_"

"**When it comes to Zerglings, you can't beat an old fashion roasting**." Says Fry. "**We finally have Zerg sightings. Two hatcheries. 5 clicks northeast of here. It is idle, not doing anything right now. I'll be on patrol. Protect the kids.**"

"_Will do._"

Beth leads the gang to the mayor's house.

"_You guys rest up a bit here. Don't unpack, we may have to move soon, ok?_"

"Got it."

Beth goes outside of the house.

"_Scout, any movement with the Zerg?_"

"***Nothing. Two hatcheries just show up on our screen, but it isn't doing anything. Not even mining.***" Says the voice on the comm.

"_Is there any escort? Are the Mutalisks finally making a move?_"

"***Negative. But we have movement from the Dominion. 8 Dropships. No escort. Moving directly towards the hatchery.***"

"_Yes I can see them on the horizon. Are you sure they are heading towards the Zerg and not us?_"

"***Positive madam.***"

"_Wendel, what's the status on the dropships?_"

"We are making them as fast as we can." Says Wendel over comm. "I've also tasked the idle factory to start making ground transport. It moves just as slow as the dropship, but it has much greater capacity and are easier to build. But we still need time to make enough of everything to carry every colonists in this town."

"_We always know it is a race against time, at least we have your plan to fall back on._" Says Beth. She also wonder how Wendel gets a hold of the ground transport schematics. For her, Wendel is a regular man of mystery. "_Keep at it, and the kids are with the Mayor. I'll ask them to stick with you if there is trouble. We are going according to the contingency plan right?_"

"Right."

"_I'm going to find out what the Dominion are doing._"

Beth goes back inside the house.

"_When there is trouble, go to the Starport, and find the guy on another Viking. He is called Wendel. You boys have to cramp into the cockpit of Wendel's Viking, while you girls have to cramp into Wade's Viking. Follow Wendel, ok?_"

"There is another Viking?" Wade asks.

"_Listen, we will have time to talk later. I'll give you the frequency to Fry's comm. Talk to Fry if you are unsure about any major decision, but don't bother him too much ok? He's got a job to do._"

"Got it."

Beth exits the house.

"_Command Centre, I need a dropship._"

* * *

4.

Beth in her blue marine suit is observing the Dominion forces, laying on prone. She brought a sniper rifle with her, using the scope to see them from a great distance.

"_Command Centre are you seeing what I'm seeing?_" Asks Beth.

"***Yes madam, but the connection isn't very good.***"

"_Ok, I'll call everything out as much as I can._"

"_Looks like they have 8 dropships in total. 6 dropships have just unloaded. 1, 2, ... 10 siege tanks, and a squad of 4 marines. I can see the Purple Marine is there in the mix. And 4 SCVs. The other 2 dropships are carrying what appears to be two big containers, just hovering close to the marines and SCVs._"

"_Ok the Siege tanks are deploying, and forming a line. I think they are going after the Hatcheries._"

"_Yes they are pounding the Hatcheries._"

"_I can see a huge group of Mutalisks is trying to engage the siege tanks._"

"_Wait the containers are dropped by the dropships. They deploy to become 2 massive walkers._"

"**That's probably the Thor.**"

"_Fry aren't you supposed to be on patrol?_"

"**I AM on patrol, I'm just listening to your commentary at the same time.**" Says Fry over the comm.

"_Ok the Thors are firing two volleys at the Mutalisks. Wait a large chunk of the Mutalisks are blown out of the sky. The rest of Mutas are retreating._"

"_And the siege tanks have finished off the hatchery. They are now killing the larvae. The Purple Marines and the SCVs are loading onto the dropship. Looks like the Dominion have cleaned up the Zergs and are leaving._"

"_Yes the tanks are unpacking and being loaded up. The Thors are packed up as well. The Dominion are leaving._"

"_Dropship, stay hidden. We will leave once the Dominion are completely out of sight._"

"***Roger that.***"

"_Ok I'm ending the video feed._ _What is the trajectory of the Dominion? Are they going straight back to their base and not us?_"

"***Yes they are heading home madam.***"

Beth now stands up while holding her sniper rifle. Then she hears a voice.

"You did not heed our advice. Or perhaps you did."

Beth spins around, looking for targets. Nothing.

"The Zergs are coming for their kins your kind imprisoned." Says the voice again.

Beth knows it is the Dark Templar.

"Destroy them and we will help you."

"_Those Zergs are out of my hands._"

"I sense that IS the truth, but you can persuade your kind to act. You have more sway than you know."

The scientists, thinks Beth.

"Yes."

"_But you can end this now, right? You are a Dark Templar, you can kill the cerebrate controlling this swarm. Then the Zerg will self-destruct._"

"No, we do not sense one. This brood is not controlled by a cerebrate. That wretched creature knows we are here. So she sends no emissary but herself."

Kerrigan, thinks Beth.

"Yes."

"_I don't think the people holding the Zergs prisoner are easily persuaded._"

"In that case we will act. For too long we do not. So now we must. But we are all racing against time. Soon that wretched creature will be too strong and too desperate for us to stop."

Then the voice disappears. Beth nows has a headache.

"***Dropship here. The Dominion dropships are gone, madam.***"

"_On my way. Did all of you get all that?_"

"***Get what madam?***"

"_The Dark Templar._"

"***Nothing madam. You were just standing here. I thought you were just waiting.***"

Beth now has a pounding headache.


	9. Day 15

1.

Radcliffe. Although there is no Zerg sighting, the news is out. Everyone is on edge.

"I say we start moving people to the Dominion Base. Ask them to take us." Says the Mayor. His attitude towards the Dominion turns completely around once he had heard about the Dominion's firepower. "They said they would help us."

"_Yes I agree. It is a long trek from here. It is best to start now._" Says Beth.

"What about escorts?" Asks the mayor.

"I don't think it matters. If the mutalisks decide to come down from orbit and attack, there is nothing we can do about it. Our militia simply isn't trained to deal with that kind of number. The best thing you can do is to get inside the Dominion base ASAP."

"_I hate to say it but he is right._" Says Beth. "_Pack as much supply as you can, I don't think the Dominion can spare any._"

"Do you think they will take us in?" The mayor asks nervously.

"There is only one way to find out." Says Wendel while patting the mayor on the back. The mayor is not reassured.

* * *

2.

Fry is on patrol but is also talking to Wade on the comm.

"**How come you guys were in that ranch? I thought you were inside the base.**"

"Mom said it was not safe for us to stay there." Says Wade. "Shirley's Aunt and Uncle were supposed to get us off world, but they have some trouble with the transport. Something about UED or whatever. After the Zerg arrived we weren't going anywhere. We were talking to Shirley's Aunt and Uncle all the time though, and we got money, so we are fine. Plus I got the Viking. Hey how come your friend Wendel has a Viking as well?"

"**He said he salvaged it. Remember the time you were flying a Viking in drone mode and tried to transform in mid-air? It just gave you a blank screen and dropped off radar. ****These top secret prototype really are pretty flimsy. **I think Wendel salvaged that one. He's a pretty good mechanic so he probably fixed it too."

"But it would be awesome if the Viking can transform mid-air, right?"

"**Totally.**" Says Fry. "**So, have you beaten my record in the Thor simulator?**"

"That was no sweat. New record is 189 Mutalisks. I don't think you can beat that. EVER. Hey I heard the Thor really worked, wouldn't it be cool to actually ride one of those in battle?"

"**Look buddy, we've talked about this. If I think you are ready for real battle, I will go with you first thing. You are not. Simulator is one thing, real combat is another. At the very least you need to be physically ready, and you are still too skinny.**"

"**There is another thing. Your mom wants you to go to the Dominion base as soon as you can. I agree with her. The safest place on this planet right now isn't here. It is the Dominion base.**"

"But my Viking can help. Look even if I am not ready for combat, I can be a scout."

"**That's true. I'll talk to your mom about this. But only if you promise to follow the plan when there is trouble. You stick with Wendel and follow his lead ok, Wade?**"

"Hey Fry you are beginning to sound like my mom."

* * *

3.

Beth is discussing the logistics of the evacuation with the Director.

"_Are you sure the Dominion won't turn them away? Because if they do, the colonists will have nowhere to go._"

"I believe the Colonel will honour his words and take in the colonists. If he does not, I will try my best to persuade him. But what about the family member of our scientists, and my son?"

"_Your scientists' family members will go in the first convoy. Your son however insisted on stay, and I think you talked to him already and he made up his mind. Fry told you the exact same thing didn't he? Frankly we need your son's Viking. However we will try to keep him safe._"

"I think you are keeping him hostage."

"_No you are wrong. If we want, we can keep all family members of the scientists with us under house arrest. But we aren't doing that. We let them go first thing. You son is here not because we are holding him hostage but because he volunteered._"

That's the worst kind of hostage situation, the Director thinks.

"_But still you owe us a favour. Previously you would give us Battlecruiser plan, but now we want something else._" Continues Beth.

"Tell me how you will keep my son safe first."

"_If there is trouble your son will fly directly to the base with Wendel. The Viking is fast enough to fly from Radcliffe to the Dominion base relatively quickly._"

"You think that Wendel can be trusted? I think he is a deep cover corporate hacker, assigned to hack our science facility. There is no way he knows Fry's suit without having hacked our computers."

"_That makes sense, I had my suspicions about him as well. But he has no reason to threaten your son's life. His best chance of survival is inside the Dominion base, and your son is his ticket inside._"

"Hm... you got a point." Says the Director after some thoughts. "So what is it that you want from us?"

"_Destroy the Zerg hatchery you found on this planet. The special hatchery that help Zerg develop new units._"

"But.. why? It is giving us so many insights into the Zerg. On the long run it could win us the war with the Zerg!"

"_The Zergs are coming for that hatchery specifically. Destroy that hatchery and we deny Zerg an advantage. Do you want Zerg to develop super units?_"

"How would you know that the Zergs are coming especially for this special hatchery?"

"_The Protoss told me that._"

"Since when are they the source of unbiased and reliable information?" The Director is incredulous.

"_This is not up for debate. This is the favour we want from you._"

"Yes it is up for debate, because it is too much to ask!" The Director is getting outraged. "You think the Dominion are just going to play along? After the Zerg flyer bloackade is ended, they will send even more people to study it!"

"_Do you think you will live long enough to see that day? Just look up the sky, and you will see how good your chance is. Look, you don't have to decide straight away, you can think it over with your scientists and get back to us._"

"You bet that I will think it over!"

"_Just remember, you owe us because we saved your son. If you destroy the Zerg hatchery that develop new unit, then we are even. It is simple as that._"

* * *

4.

Radcliffe. About half of the colonists are gone. The other half are crowding the starport and the factory, hoping to get into a dropship or land transport as soon as they are manufactured. Then their worst fear comes true.

"***We have 4 separate sightings of Zerg ground units. I repeat 4 separate sightings.***"

"***We have 1 hatchery spawning 5 clicks northwest of Radcliffe. It has drones and are start mining the nearby mineral and gas mines.***"

"***We have a mass of zerglings landing 6 clicks north of Radcliffe.***"

"***We have a mass of zerglings landing 1 click west of Radcliffe.***"

"***We have 1 hatchery spawning 5 clicks northeast of Radcliffe. It has drones and are start mining. It also has a few Zerglings and Hydralisks guarding the hatchery.***"

"***Your orders madam?***"

"_The zerglings right outside Radcliffe are our first priority, they are threatening the transport out of town. Fry, intercept them. I'll join you as soon as I can._"

"**Got it.**"

"Wendel and Wade, escort the convoy out of the town. Fry and I will be drawing their fire but there may be strays, take care of them."

"Roger."

"_Factory, what's your progress?_"

"***We are about to finish one last land transport. Over.***"

"_As soon as you are done, pack as many people as you can and lift off. Then proceed to the Dominion Base._"

"***Roger that.***"

"_Starport, status._"

"***We've just started building a dropship, over.***"

"_Cancel that, pack as many people inside as you can and lift off. Proceed to the Dominion Base right away._"

"***Roger.***"

* * *

5.

"**All right everyone out of the bunkers! The Zerglings will be coming from WEST! So MOVE!**" Fry barks.

The town militia find high ground by getting on top of the prefab lining the main street.

"**Remember, kick off the ramp after the roof is packed, so Zerglings can't climb up the roof.**"

"**And remember, I will be drawing the Zerglings into the killzone. DO NOT fire on me or near me, fire at the Zerglings coming towards me. I can roast those little shits myself.**"

"**DO NOT PANIC. As long as you are on the roof the Zerglings can't hurt you. And wait for my orders.**"

Fry is charging towards the Zerglings just outside the town.

"**Come on you little shits, come and get me!**"

Fry is lightly toasting some Zerglings, baiting them. They are now charging towards Fry. At the same time, he is retreating towards the barricade inside the town

The barricade is funnelling the Zergling towards one single choke point, and Fry is standing at the choke point. He is surrounded by the town Milita in standard Dominion red on higher ground.

After retreating to the choke point, Fry turns around and says "**FIRE!**"

The tactic is working. Waves and waves of Zerglings are coming towards Fry, but the militia on high ground are thinning them out. Fry in his Firebat suit is burning the remaining Zerglings coming his way. Beth in blue marine suit is perched on the top of the Factory, sniping every Zergs that Fry missed. Not one Zergling can enter the town.

"_Command Centre, sitrep._" Beth asks after she sees no more Zerglings coming from the west.

"***The Zerglings from the west is wiped out, Madam.***"

Everybody let out a huge roar.

"**All right everyone get off the roof and back into the bunkers, MOVE!**" Fry orders, while he is still covered in Zergling entrails.

"***Dominion forces are engaging the hatchery 5 clicks northwest of town.***"

"***Mass Zerglingls 6 clicks north of town have now moved to engage the Dominion forces."

"***The hatchery 10 clicks northeast of town is now morphing. Drones are fully mining the surrounding minerals and gas. They also have support structures. Spawning Pool, Hydralisk Den, about 5 Spore colonies and 5 sunken colonies spread out to protect the base.***"

"***We have a mass of Zerglings about 1 click north of town, mixed with about equal number of Hydralisks.***"

"_Shit, that horde is going to wipe us out. Command centre, pack as many SCVs as you can, lift off and move to the Dominion Base. The remaining SCVs gather at the Barracks._"

"***Madam we won't be able to scout for you while moving.***"

"_That's fine, go._"

"***Roger that.***"

"_Wendel, status?_"

"There are no strays, and the Vikings are escorting the last ground transport."

"_Roger that._ _Factory, status._"

"***We've manufactured the last transport, and it is already gone, but we can't lift off, we have too many people wanting to climb aboard. There are still many colonists stranded here madam.***"

"_I'll handle it, stand by._" Says Beth as she is climbing down.

"LET US IN! LET US IN! THEY ARE COMING!" The stranded colonists are screaming, clinging onto to the factory.

"***If you don't let go, none of us are getting out of here.***" Comes the reply from the loudspeaker.

"_People you have to let go!_" Beth is shouting but she is completely drown out.

Then Fry let out a stream of flame towards the sky. The noise immediately dies down.

"**Do you want to die fighting the Zergs? Or do you want to die helpless while the Zergs pick you off?**" Fry shouts, obviously very angry, and still covered in Zerglings entrails. He points to the Barracks. "**Get in the there, suit up, and FIGHT!**" The militia who just wiped out the Zerg let out a huge roar in chorus.

The stranded colonists are convinced. They stop clinging to the factory and start streaming into the Barracks.

"***Factory here, we are on the air, moving towards the Dominion Base.***"

"_Roger that. And good luck._"


	10. Day 15 to 18

1.

Fry is giving on-the-go instructions to the new recruits on the defence.

"Listen Up People! The bunkers are full, so pick a roof near a missile turret, and stay there, and form into groups of 4. The people in the bunker shoot at the Zerglings. The people up on the roof shoot at the Hydralisks. Hydras are big ugly motherfuckers that can fire missiles at you, so kill them as soon as possible. Those missile looks like a big dart. If you get hit and it doesn't hurt, then keep shooting. If you get hit and it hurts, get someone next to you to pull out the missile then keep firing. Bottom line is, if you see any Zerg, shoot. Don't run, don't try to pat them or they'll bite your hands off."

Fry continues. "There is a chance there will be Zerg Flyers. Those are the mutalisks. They are pretty weak, but a whole lot of them can pack a punch, and they are fast. So don't stray from the missile turrets and let the machines deal with them."

Next, Beth talks about the exit strategy.

"I'll be honest with you, we are the baits drawing attention away from the unarmed colonists transports. However, when all the transports have arrived at the Dominion Base, they will send dropships for us. So we just have to hold out until then. But we still need volunteers to stay behind and draw fire away from the dropships. Fry and I, and a lot of people in the bunkers have already volunteered to stay behind. For the rest of you, the dropship will pick you up at the location I've just marked on your HUD. But if we have killed them all, we all get to fight another day. Any question?"

"Good. I will be up on top of the Barracks keeping an eye on Zergs and sniping them. I still have 4 sniper rifles so if you think you are a crack shot, come with me up there. Fry will be on the frontline roasting Zergs. Just remember, if we stick together we can get out of this alive. If you run, then you will definitely be killed by the Zerg. Good luck everyone."

* * *

2.

Beth and 4 other militia are on the roof of the barracks, looking down on the defence.

"*I want to thank you.*"

"_This is no time for chitchat. Get ready. Follow my lead._"

"Yes madam."

"*If you had came for me, none of us would be here.*"

It was a woman's voice.

"*And I certainly would never be as strong as I am now.*"

It was Kerrigan's voice, in Beth's head. Beth now has a pounding headache.

"*So I will thank you by killing you last.*"

The Zerglings are coming from the North, mixed with Hydralisks. Fry is standing at the choke point of a maze of barricades, funnelling Zerglings so Fry can kill them two at a time. Barricades also protect bunkers, stopping Zerglings from directly attacking The militia inside bunkers are killing Zerglings as fast as they can.

"*I will let you see everyone around you die.*"

Beth and other snipers are killing the Hydralisks as fast as they can, but the Hydralisks are slowly but steady picking off militia stationed above rooftops. There are simply too many Hydralisks.

"*And then remind you that they died because you are weak. They died because you can't shoot fast enough."

The barricades are slowly destroyed by Hydralisks. While the bunkers and Fry are killing Zerglings as fast as they come, once the barricades are gone the Zerglings will quickly destroy the bunkers.

"*They died because you can't react fast enough to circumstance.*"

Beth's pounding headache is affecting her aim. She has trouble one shot killing Hydralisks.

"*They died because you can't even shut off strange voices in your head.*"

The barricades are now completely gone. Zerglings are swarming all the bunkers manned by the militia. All SCVs attempting to repair are dead.

"*There is nothing evil in being strong, but it is a sin for being weak.*"

Bunkers manned by militia are destroyed. The front line is collapsing.

"*I am not evil for destroying this pathetic little town, it is a simple demonstration of strength."

Many militia are running away instead of shooting. They are quickly being torn apart by Zerglings.

"*But it is a sin for all of you to die so easily.*"

The remaining militia, organised by Fry, slowly retreat towards the barracks. Their approached is covered by Beth and her snipers. Fry's firebat suit has run out of gas. He picks up a rifle and starts using that instead. If any Zergling comes close to him, he just swing a heavy punch to it and bat it away.

"*There is no dignity in death. The only honour is survival.*"

Only Fry made it to the rooftop of the barracks, but his suit is heavily damaged. If the gas tank in his Firebat suit isn't empty, it would have exploded from various damages. The snipers on the roof are busy dodging volleys from the Hydralisks rather than shooting. The barracks is also steadily being destroyed by Zerglings.

This is the end.

* * *

3.

Then suddenly, Beth's headache is gone. And no more voice in the head.

Hydralisks are retreating as they are pounded by what look to be siege tank volleys coming from the west. Only the Dominion have this kind of firepower. The Zerglings are still pounding the Barracks, but they are being killed off by groups of Dominion marines pushing up from the south. At the same time, a Dominion dropship arrives on the roof. As soon as the dropship arrived, the 4 militia quickly climbed aboard. But both Fry and Beth are hesitant.

Then the the Purple Marine appears, offering them his hand. Beth climbs aboard first, then Fry finally follows. As soon as they are aboard, Dominion marines quickly relieve the weapons from Beth and Fry. Both of them say nothing.

* * *

4.

As soon as Beth and Fry are on solid ground, they are quickly separated. Out of her marine suit, Beth is throw into the brig. Solitary. She has nothing but clothes, so she does not know how time passes. But she has been given regular meals, and she tries to pass the time by keeping herself in shape. Someone looks in from outside every now and then, but otherwise she has no visitor.

Finally, after what appears to be three days, someone comes for her. It was Wendel, in regulation Dominion uniform, flanked by a couple of Dominion Marines in power suit. He motions her to come out, and Beth is escorted into what appears to be an interrogation room. Beth and Wendel says nothing. Then Wendel and the marines leave.

A moment later, the Director enters. Beth finally sees the Director in the flesh. She looks to be 40-50. Shorter than Beth, she is dressed in standard scientist clothing.

"I'm sure you have lots of questions. I will try to answer them as best as I can." Says the Director.


	11. Day 16

1.

The Colonel is reporting to General Warfield via video link. Wendel is standing side by side with the Colonel.

"**Colonel Zilong I know you must have questions about Colonel Wendel.**" Says Warfield. "**All I can say is, the order to release him comes directly from the Emperor himself. So is the order to promoted him directly to the rank of Colonel. From now on, Colonel Zilong and Colonel Wendel, you two will have to work together to protect this base. Colonel Zilong I have read your report. I understand your concerns. But the weapons lab is vital to the Dominion. Your successful deployment of the Thor confirms its importance. I know the scientists are the brains behind new weapons, but without the lab itself, new weapon development will be set back for at least a year. That is simply unacceptable.**"

Continues Warfield. "**As to the biological lab studying the Zerg, it is just as importance as the weapons lab. We have not seen before the new strain of Zerg unit developed by the hatchery imprisoned within the biological lab. This so-called Lurker unit can be devastating to our troops without detections. So we must not let other Zerg brood acquire the know-how to evolve this Zerg unit, and we must also learn more about how Zerg develop new unit type. However, if base defence is compromised, your order is to destroy the special hatchery in your custody.**"

"Yes General." Comes the answer from both Colonels.

"**Unfortunately we cannot send reinforcement.**" Says Warfield. "**Augustgrad is being attacked by both the Zerg and the UED as we speak. The situation is dire because the attack seems to be coordinated. We think the UED may be controlling the Zerg, or at least the Zergs attacking the city. You will be first to be notified if the situation changes.**"

"Acknowledged, General."

"Dismiss."

* * *

2.

After General Warfield ends the call, Wendel immediately turns to the Colonel.

"Colonel don't let the rank trouble you." Says Wendel. "You and I both know I am not a soldier. The rank is just the Emperor's way of saying you should listen to me from time to time. Don't worry, I will not interfere with military matters, the Dominion forces will only listen to you anyway. So please do NOT address me as Colonel in public. Just consider me as a special advisor to you. Instead I will take ownership of intelligence matters. As you have no doubt read my dossier, I am more than qualified."

"Very well."

"But I will ask two things from you. First, you have to change how you are treating Beth and Fry."

"Those two are enemies of the Dominion. Soon they will be tried, found to be guilty of treason and then be executed." Says the Colonel.

"Do you think I went to all that trouble just so you can kill them by firing squad? Fry is too good of a soldier to let him die willy-nilly. Beth can become our mole in Raynor's Raiders. So keeping them alive serves the strategic purposes of the Dominion."

"Why do you think they will listen to you?"

"They won't listen to ME, but they will listen to reason." Says Wendel. "The second thing I want you is to prepare for an exit strategy. I know the order is to hold this base at all cost. But given the the Zerg blockade, and given the number of Mutalisks in orbit, it would be wise to hedge our bets and build battlecruisers ourselves to break the blockade."

"The Thor prototypes are working as intended, they can hold back the Mutalisks."

"No, the prototypes are just that, prototypes. The original spec for the Thors is to have heavy armour, but in order to boost the power of the missile, they now only have light armour. Thors right now are glass canons, they work as a short term solution. However, when it comes to a war of attrition, as it is likely given the situation elsewhere in this sector, the Thors won't cut it even in the medium term."

"What you are suggesting is disobeying a direct order." The Colonel fumes. He does not trust a person with shifting loyalty like Wendel.

"No Colonel, the labs are to be protected at all costs, I'm not asking you to disobey that order, and I will never disobey a direct order either. The scientists, however, can leave. If the Zerg threat is neutralised, the scientists can come back here right away. But if the Zerg threat isn't neutralised, the scientists can at the very least continue their work somewhere else. But only if they can get off planet. You know all of this. All I am asking you is to be flexible."

After some thoughts, the Colonel finally relents. "You can deal with the prisoners as you see fit, they are your responsibility now. The Battlecruiser plan, however, I need to think this over. Even if I am convinced by your argument, there are huge logistics challenges, because I'm not sure how we can find extra resources to build battlecruisers. I will give you my answer soon though."

"Thank you Colonel." Says Wendel. "One last thing Colonel. I admire your loyalty to the Emperor. You know protecting this base is a fool's errand given the situation, yet you still try your best to do your job."

"It may be a fool's errand on our end, but on a strategic level it is significant. Denying new unit to Zerg as long as possible is important, so is tying down Zerg forces in this planet so they can't overwhelm our forces elsewhere. We all have a job to do."

"Indeed Colonel. You see the big picture. If only the Emperor has more people like you and General Warfield, and less people like General Duke."

"You mean the Emperor will benefit by having less people like you around?" The Colonel can't help but point out the irony.

"My loyalty has always been with the Dominion, even though on the surface it may not seem that way. You and I believe in the Dominion because it is a meritocracy. You get the job done, you get promoted. Simple as that. Unlike the Confederacy. In the old days you have to know the right people, or pay enough bribe in order to be promoted. People with humble origins, like you and me, never did get a chance in the Confederacy."


	12. Day 17 to 18

1.

The Director's office. Wendel simply enters her office unannounced.

"Please leave. I have lots of paperworks to go through." The Director says coldly, without even looking up from her work.

"Let me break the ice by saying that I am not as fond of you as the Colonel. In my opinion, he gives you too much deference. A reasonable attitude, considering how valuable the weapon research of this science facility has been to base defence and to the Dominion in general. But the colonel doesn't have all the facts."

"And you have?" Now the Director finally looks up.

"No, but at least I have read enough of your research files during the Confederacy days to know you have been holding out on the Dominion. The schematics you gave to the Colonel for the Thor is incomplete."

"The prototype is just that, prototype. We are still adding improvements."

"But you HAVE made improvements. The schematics you provided to the Colonel is more than six months old."

"I do not believe we have the capacity to produce the latest prototype." The Director is getting uncomfortable with this line of questioning.

"But it is not your call to make. It should be the Colonel's." Says Wendel. "And what about the Viking? Did that conveniently slip your mind? Your son told me all about it. You and a few scientists deleted the schematics and all traces of its existence. You are preparing to sell it on the black market. THAT was supposed to be your sons and daughters' ticket off this planet."

"You have nothing to threaten me with. Those of us involved in the scheme are prepared for the worst when we signed up."

"No, you are prepared for the worst only AFTER your sons and daughters are safely off this planet. Instead they are here now, in this base. The Colonel may be a reasonable man but he is also loyal to the Dominion. The crimes you have committed is treason and the Colonel will not be lenient, and I CAN GUARANTEE THAT your sons and daughters will be punished as well. I imagine this science facility will be even more efficient without subversive individuals like yourself."

"What do you want from me, from us?" The Director is extremely alarmed by this turn of event.

"The Colonel does not need to know about the business with the Viking. You can continue to use your current cover story: that a fatal computer crash wiped out the schematics. I happen to have the schematics backed up with me during my hacking days, so the Dominion will be able to continue the research on the Viking, while your cover story can stay intact forever. You can continue your cosy relationship with the Colonel. Your sons and daughters can stay with you in the science facility. In return for my silence, I just need YOU to be my conduit to Beth and Fry. It is quite simple really."

Continues Wendel. "I will give you until tomorrow to think about it. You may also want to talk to your co-conspirators first. I've already told them of my demands, and I have reminded them that I only need YOUR service, and yours alone, in order to guarantee THEIR safety. I need nothing from them."

"WHAT kind of special advisor ARE YOU to the Colonel?" The Director is now terrified, but she does not show it.

"The very special kind."

* * *

2.

"Do you have a moment Colonel?" Asks The Director.

It is the Colonel's Office. Out of his distinctive purple marine suit, the Colonel looks to be about the same age as the Director. He is surprised. The Director had never visited him before.

"As long as it is official business, of course."

"It is." The Director is coming to gauge how much sway Wendel has on Colonel, without giving herself away.

"Have a seat."

"Who is Wendel and why should we trust him? Two days ago he was a fugitive. And now he is freely nosing around our base."

"All I can tell you is that he is a high ranking Dominion official, and he is my special advisor." The Colonel has enough sense to know he should never give away details about Dominion spies.

"Do YOU trust him?"

"I do not think it is any of your concern." The Colonel tries not to give anything away.

"What else can you tell me about him?"

"I thought you know about him more than I do lately."

"I know he is a deep cover Dominion spy who has been monitoring and hacking our science facility for a long time. One of our scientists recognised him as a mechanic in town."

"I can neither confirm nor deny it." The Colonel smiles.

"What else can you tell me about him?"

"I can tell you that he alerted me to the situation in Radcliffe."

"May I ask how he alerted you?"

"As you know, two days ago the Zerg made four separate incursions into the area surrounding our base. Our strategy is to eradicate any Zerg foothold as soon as possible, because we cannot afford to be surrounded by Zerg bases that can use this planet's mineral against us, and we do not have the manpower to hold all strategically important mining area. After we have eradicated two groups of Zergs, Wendel alerted us that the defenders of Radcliffe eliminated another group of Zergs, but one final group of Zerg have pinned down the defenders. This group is continuously reinforced by a Hatchery further north of Radcliffe. It was relatively undefended while it was streaming reinforcements to Radcliffe. So I decided to take the opportunity to eliminate the Hatchery, and we did. Finally we eradicated all Zergs attacking Radcliffe."

"At the time you still considered him a fugitive right?"

"Yes, but the matter has been resolved."

"At the time did you suspect he was luring you to a trap? Or simply feeding you misinformation?"

"There is simply no reason for him to trick us, unless he had a death wish. In any case, our observations confirmed his own."

"So do you trust him?" The Director tries once again.

"Trust is irrelevant when there is a convincing argument." The Colonel finally offers a glimpse of his opinion of Wendel: while he may not trust Wendel, he also has an open mind about him.

This is exactly what the Director does NOT what to hear. That means if Wendel presents a compelling case of her treason to the Colonel, the Colonel WILL execute her. And he does have a compelling case of her treason.

"Thank you for your time." The Director says to the Colonel gloomily. She knows she has to work for Wendel, for now at least.

* * *

3.

Interrogation Room. The Director is interviewing Beth, while Wendel is watching behind a one way mirror.

"_What happened to the colonists?_" This is the first thing Beth asks.

"All of them are safe inside the base. There was no attack on the transports."

"_Your son, and the children of the scientists?_"

"They are safe, thanks to you and your people."

"_What about the assets? Command Centre, Starport and the Factory?_"

"The Dominion have confiscated them all."

"_Are there any more survivors from Radcliffe?_"

"You mean the militia? No. Only six of you survived."

That means all the people who came with Beth originally on this planet are all dead. They were all on the ground fighting.

"_The four militia snipers are originally colonists, they are not with me or Raynor._"

"And they are with the other colonists already."

"_What about Fry?_"

"He is in the same situation as you."

"_And what situation would that be?_"

"Given the Zerg blockade, the Dominion have an offer: for the remainder of blockade, you will work under Dominion to fight the Zerg. You will have free access to the base, and limited access to the science facility for that period. After the Zerg blockade has ended, normal Dominion legal process against you will resume."

"_That is a rather generous offer._"

"Yes it is." The Director thought so as much. She simply does not understand how or why Wendel can make this happen.

Beth caught a glimpse of the Director's thought. Somehow she knows what the Director is thinking. Then Beth's headache returns, worse than ever, and she passes out.

* * *

4.

Science Facility medical bay. Beth is waking up in a bed surrounded by equipment. There is no guard, no restraint. There is only the Director.

"Good you are awake. We did a thorough scan on your body and your brain, and we found something interesting. We think you are a psychic. The part of your brain responsible for psychic abilities is lighting up. The Confederacy, or the Dominion for that matter, actively seek out psychics in order to train them as ghost, but somehow you slipped the net. Until now. When did you start having headaches or visions?"

"_I had visions, premonitions before, but the headaches only started recently, about a week ago._"

"Hm... this must have something to do with the relatively high Jorium content in the soil of this planet, it must be jump starting your latent abilities."

"_What does it all mean?_"

"That means you are either more dangerous to the Dominion, or even more useful." The Director cautions.

"Please excuse us." Wendel enters the room and says. The Director leaves immediately. "Our offer still stands."

"_What is the situation with the Zerg?_" Asks Beth.

"The Mutalisks are still maintaining a blockade over us. There is no more Zerg ground incursion but we expect more will come eventually."

"_Who are you really?_" Asks Beth. The burning question.

"I am with the Dominion."

"_For the time you mean?_"

"No I've always been with the Dominion. There is no point hiding that now, especially when you are a psychic."

"_Why did you help us? Why did you save Fry?_"

"I helped the colonists only because of you. I saved Fry for the same reason. I value talent."

"_Does the person in charge share your interest?_" Beth asks, snidely.

"You mean Mengsk? Of course he does. He recruited Raynor remember? When Raynor was just a marshal in backwater Mar Sara, Mengsk saw his undoubted talent and elevated him to be his right hand man. How right he was. Raynor helped Mengsk toppled the Confederacy."

"_And you are forgetting that Mengsk is willing to sacrifice anybody just so he can fulfil his personal ambitions?_"

"And what ambitions would that be? To SAVE humanity, to STRENGTHEN humanity. Not bickering over who needs what, when and how, but actually carving a foothold for humanity in this universe. In this universe rampant with Zergs and mismanaged by the Protoss."

"_No, I think Mengsk cares only about personal glory._"

"And what higher personal glory is greater than 'saviour of humanity'? Most people have far more petty personal glories, like 'I want to be a famous artist', or 'I want to be a successful scientist' blah blah blah. It is all 'me me me me me'. I would say those people are the utterly selfish ones, never willing to fight for causes bigger than themselves."

"_I've seen first hand how Mengsk operates. People are just pawns on a chessboard to him._"

"Did you remember what you told me, about why you fight on Day 1? You fight for what is right, and you are learning as you go along. We in the Dominion and Mengsk believe in the same things. You think your methods are more refined, more 'humane', but you know sometimes sacrifice has to be made. You yourself had sacrificed the lives of the militia to save the colonists, did you not? Sometimes it is necessary." Says Wendel. "And of course Mengsk made mistakes. But just like you and Raynor, Mengsk also tries to never make the same mistake twice."

"_Are you Mengsk's chief propagandist?_" Beth asks sarcastically.

"No, I do have other talents as well." Wendel is amused. "Rest for now, Beth, the doctors will take care of you. But we need you ready as soon as possible. Humanity need you as soon as possible."


	13. Day 18 to 19

1.

The interrogation room. The Director is giving the Fry the same offer as Beth. Except Fry is in shackles.

"**I want to talk to Wendel personally.**" Says Fry.

A moment later it is just Wendel and Fry in the room.

"**That's a pretty generous offer. What is stopping me from killing every Dominion soldier I see once I'm free?**"

"Because I saved you, twice." Wendel answers. "You were rescued only because I told the Dominion about the situation in Radcliffe. You owe me that much to accept that offer."

"**Why did you save me back in that Dominion checkpoint?**"

"Because that was the first time I see first hand what you are capable of. You grabbed a firebat by his wrists and turned his own flamethrowers against him! Incredible! Your strength is too valuable to be wasted on common Dominion Marines. You deserve to die a true warrior's death, against the Zergs and the Protoss, not against other humans. I understand you have never fought a Protoss before, right? How do you think you will fare against the Protoss who always bring a knife to a gunfight? How about fighting 2 of them at the same time, and one of them is a Dark Templar? If you die by firing squad, you will never know the answer. What about Ultralisk, you have never fought them, right? They are even bigger than a siege tank, and they hit so hard they can fling a marine up to the air. Don't you want to test yourself against PROPER enemies like those?"

"**And you blew up Mengsk's holo statue just to rescue me?**"

"Of course, if I tell you I'm with the Dominion you will just kill me right away. You wouldn't accept my help to keep you alive. But as a fellow fugitive you will accept my help. At that point the Dominion thought I had gone crazy. Some considered me a liability and don't have a problem seeing me die. But that is the risk I am willing to take."

"**I will never forget that Dominion killed my unit, my brothers.**"

"And if your unit had stayed with the scientists, I would have convinced all of you to fight for the Dominion instead. Do you think you will ever rise above Sergeant in the Confederacy? No, you know that you have neither the connection nor the money to be promoted, no matter how good you are on the battle field."

"**You presume too much.**"

"And it is unfortunate you came up against the Colonel, the Purple Marine you hated so much. In some way he IS you, only twenty years older, with twenty years more experience. Before the Dominion, he was a captain in an insignificant colony garrison. That was as far as he could go as a soldier, given his talents but lack of connections. But the Zerg invasion changed all that. He distinguished himself during the Zerg invasion, holding his colony garrison as long as he could and saving colonists lives. When the Sons of Korhol finally rescued his men and the colonists, he had no trouble abandoning the Confederacy. For all the flaws of the Dominion, it IS an improvement over the Confederacy."

Fry stays silent for a moment. Then Fry, in his shackles, suddenly jumps at Wendel and holds him by the neck.

"**You saved me once, so I will not snap your neck. You saved me twice, so I will take your offer. We are even now.**"

Fry lets Wendel go while Dominion marines are rushing in. They are about to kick fifty shades of shit out of Fry, but Wendel waves them away.

* * *

2.

Science facility. Beth is out of the bed and the scientists are still running tests on her. The Director is with her.

"At this point we think you are a 5 on our scale. That means you can be a Ghost. But given the way your abilities suddenly developed, you may still develop even further." Says the director.

"_Will I be having the headaches forever?_" Asks Beth.

"If you can master your abilities, no. It takes years of training to master psionic abilities, that's why the Ghost program targeted children, not adults. But our scientists have been working on something..."

The Director gives Beth a suit of armour.

"This is a modified version of the standard Hostile Environment Suit issued to Ghost, except it incorporated Protoss Khaydarin Crystals. These crystals have amazing properties, they focus psionic energy. With the crystals the suit can channel all the ghost's psionic energy to the cloaking device, so she can cloak even longer, maybe indefinitely. What it means to you specifically is that it can channel your unfocused psionic energy into the cloaking device, eliminating the headache. However as long as you turn on the cloaking device, you will lose your telepathic ability. I think in your case it is a worthwhile trade off."

"_Why are you giving me this?_"

"Because it still needs further field testing, and we want you to do it. The last ghost attached to this facility to help us test this suit was called away just before the Zerg flyer blockade. Luckily that was a woman as well, so we don't have to make significant modifications for you." Says the Director. Besides, we think the suit is better off with you than with the Dominion, thinks the Director but doesn't say out loud.

Beth catches all that. She smiles to the Director.

* * *

3.

The Colonel and Wendel is having their daily meeting.

"You said you don't want to interfere with military matters. But letting those two fugitives have free access to the base compromises the security of this base, and I cannot allow that." Says the Colonel.

"Fry may be a concern to you, given his... previous record, but I have his word that he would work with us, for the time being until the Zerg flyer blockade is gone. I believe he will honour his words. As to Beth, without firearms she isn't a threat, and I will make sure she does not have a gun while inside the base."

"You know they will both escape if they see the blockade is about to break, right? They won't hand themselves to us after the Zergs are gone."

"Of course, but by that time, they would be willing servants of the Dominion."

"You really think they can be turned?"

"Yes. And if I think I will fail, I will just arrest them and let you deal with them. For now, I will supervise their movement and their deployment. They will answer to me. I think you will find us very effective on special operations. You do remember how we operated, right?"

"Very well."

"What about the battlecruiser? Have you come to any decision?"

"I have. If we want to make battlecruisers, we have to venture out of the base to gather resources. The mining town of Radcliffe originally is ideal for this, because it has enough resources to build at least a few battlecruisers. But it is too far from our base, it is difficult to reinforce. We have identified other mining locations in those coordinates I have just given to you. , and we can reinforce relatively quickly. Our strategy remains the same: hit Zerg ground forces and bases as soon as they arrive on planet surface. So our main forces must be on alert to deal with that. I suggest you lead a small forces and mine those bases one at a time. These locations are defensible, but still, keep a low profile so the Protoss won't be drawn to you. And work fast, we don't know how or when the next Zerg attack will be."

"That is a good plan Colonel."

"We were already attacked by the Protoss with new unknown units, so be prepared for surprise."

* * *

4.

The Director's office. The Director, Beth and Fry are talking while Wendel is with the Colonel.

"_How did you know the Director, Fry? That is just one thing I can't figure out._" Says Beth.

"**Her son Wade is very into combat simulators we use for training. I know her through him.**" Says Wendel.

"_Ah yes of course. That makes sense._"

"Oh how he loved those simulators. We should never have put so much computing power into them, they just become video games at some point and not combat simulators." The Director is slightly annoyed by his son's obsession.

"_Are you sure they can't hear us in this office?_"

"Quite sure, but just keep it quick before Wendel barges in."

"**Why do you think he is letting us out? Is the Zerg that much of a threat?**"

"While I don't want to make light of the Zerg, I think the Colonel would rather see all of you locked up."

"_I think he wants to 'convert' us to fight on the Dominion's side._"

"**You caught that with your telepathy?**"

"_No, my abilities come and go, but he was selling the Dominion to me. And you don't need to be a telepath to see he genuinely believes in what he said._"

"**Yeah he did that to me too.**"

"That guy is a manipulative son of a bitch. I wouldn't believe a word he says." Director says angrily, but she hasn't told them the whole story. Not yet.

"_Have you considered what you can do to the special Zerg hatchery in the science facility?_" Beth asks the Director.

"Regarding what the Protoss said? At this point I'm with you, I'm in favour of destroying it, just to deny it to the Dominion."

"**Why do you think the Zerg aren't attacking this base? Those Mutalisks in orbit can easily kill us all.**"

"I think they know if they overwhelm us right away, we lose nothing by destroying that special hatchery, and they don't want that. Instead they want us to think we are relatively safe. Then they wear us down, and when we least expected it, take over this base intact, and capture that special hatchery intact."

"_That's all the more reason to destroy it now, while we still have the initiative._"

"But it is completely out of our hands. We can't even arrange some 'special accident', the special hatchery is under armed guard now. Wendel made sure of that."

"_We have no authority over Wendel, the best we can do is to convince him._"

"Good luck." Says the Director dismissively. Then she sees Wendel coming.

"Enjoying the reunion?" Asks Wendel as he comes in. "We are following your plan Beth, we are building Battlecruisers to ship the colonists and the scientists out and break the blockade. And we will venture out of this base to mine resources to do that. Get ready, Beth and Fry are coming with me to defend the mining base."

The Director looks at Beth. Maybe he CAN be convinced, thinks the Director.


	14. Day 20

1.

Mining base. In front of the mineral line are two bunkers guarding a missile turret. A siege tank is deployed right beside the missile turret. Wendel in his Viking is patrol above the missile turret. No one is venturing out. In one bunker sit four Dominion Marines. Beth and Fry sit in the other bunker. Beth in her Ghost suit and Fry in his Marauder suit. Nothing has happened for at least two hours.

Then Wendel spots a Stalker. It is out of the range of Siege tank, then the stalker disappears immediately.

"Beth, unload from bunker and cloak. Proceed to the last known location of the stalker and investigate." Wendel tells Beth.

"_Copy that._" Beth replies.

Beth moves to the last known location of the stalker. There is nothing. Just when she is about to report back, she hears a noise from behind. When she turns around, a Dark Templar uncloaked briefly, right in front of her.

Beth thinks for a second, then she turns off her cloak. Her head starts to hurt, but she immediately hears a voice in her head.

"You are wise, human."

"_I figure if you want to kill me, you could have done it already. And you are trying to lure me away from the others. You just want to talk._"

"Indeed. I have been reading your thoughts. I advise you to learn to control your power. Do not rely on machines. Machines often fail. I do not know how human learn to control their power, but I can tell you how we control our power. Focus and practice."

"_I'll try._"

"Also, I understand your situation, and I can offer you a solution. If you can smuggle me into your base, then I can destroy the Zerg hatchery there."

"_How?_"

"It is best if I keep it a secret. I only need your help."

"_If I can smuggle you into the base, you probably can roam free undetected, but how are you supposed to get out? If the hatchery is mysteriously destroyed, they will lock the base down._"

"I have thought of that, and I have already planned for this. I only ask for your cooperation."

"_I have to think about it._"

"If you have come up with a decision and how to smuggle me in, just focus your mind and I will read you."

Then the voice is gone.

"_Wendel, I've checked out the location, the Stalker is gone. I thought I hear a Dark Templar, but it was a false alarm._"

"Roger that, return to your bunker and resume sentry duty."

"_Roger._"

* * *

2.

Change of guard in the Mining Base. 2 Dropships dropping off 8 marines to relieve the 4 marines originally with Fry and Beth. Wendel has already returned to base.

"***Dropship here, who the hell ordered 2 dropships for you bunch? One dropship is enough already.***"

"**Heh, those 4 Marines don't want to sit with me, they want to sit in their own little dropship. They heard about how I can kill marines with just my bare hands. And with me stuck in a bunker all day, I may just kill one or two Dominion Marines for fun.**" Fry is obviously enjoying the boasting.

"***And why the hell are you two standing outside the range of missile turret? You have a death wish or something? Those Dark Templar can sneak up on you there.***"

"**No, I'm baiting them to come at me! COME AT ME YOU COWARD!**" Fry is shouting at no one in particular.

"_Just pick us up from here, will you?_"

"***Hey, it is your funeral.***"

The Dropship sits down. Fry enters it immediately, but Beth is still on the ground, waiting for something.

"***Are you ready to go? We don't have all day.***"

After a while Beth finally enters the dropship.

"_I thought I heard something. Let's go._"

* * *

3.

Dominion Base. Biological research section. The scientists monitoring the special Zerg hatchery are panicking, because the Zerg hatchery is dying. They simply do not know why. The Director is there, and the health of the Hatchery is critical enough so that the Colonel and Wendel are also called in.

"Why is the hatchery dying? What did you do?" Asks the Colonel.

"We were entering the quarantine zone to take out larvae for study, then even before we got out, the health of the hatchery started dropping. At first we thought it was natural fluctuation, but after a while its health kept dropping." Says the Director.

"Do you think it is natural?" Asks the Colonel.

"Normal hatcheries don't die. Even idle larvae doesn't die. They just sit there. So no, I don't think this is natural."

"What is causing this? Is it some kind of biological infection?" Asks Wendel.

"If this is biological then this is great news, because we have a biological weapon against Zerg. But no I don't think so. See the lacerations? They weren't there this morning."

"We are not losing it, is there any way to boost its health?" Ask the Colonel.

"There is nothing we can do. Zerg hatcheries, like any other Zergs, heal naturally. There is no other way to boost its health"

"Command Centre, I need a comsat on my location." Asks Wendel, he thinks he may know why.

"Roger that, marking cloaked units on your HUD."

The scan immediately reveals a Dark Templar hacking away at the Hatchery.

"Guards, immediately enter the quarantine area and engage the Dark Templars, I want continues comsat coverage on the hatchery." Orders the Colonel. "Any available marine, I want you to converge inside the quarantine area and engage Dark Templars and Dark Templars ONLY."

"***Roger that.***"

Two guards standing outside the hatchery immediately enter and start shooting at the Dark Templar, but the Dark Templar is ignoring the marines and keep hacking away at the Hatchery. Finally, a large group of marines arrive. As soon as they enter the quarantine area with the Hatchery. The Dark Templar is suddenly gone. The hatchery survives the assassination attempt.

"WHAT?" Wendel shouts, he can't believe it. "Command Centre, I thought the Colonel said continuous comsat on the hatchery."

"***We have done as the Colonel asked, sir.***"

"The Protoss probably use the Recall ability." The Colonel is not surprised. "We have reports that the Protoss unit we called the Arbiter can teleport any unit to its location. The Arbiter probably teleport those two Dark Templars to its location."

"Can we track him?" Asks Wendel.

"No." Answers the Colonel. "But how did he get into the base?"

"Given the new Protoss unit type we have seen, they may have used some kind of ability we have not heard of to enter the base." The Director immediately volunteers her opinion.

"Then why didn't the Protoss just wipe us out? It seems they are only specifically after the Hatchery." Says the Colonel. "Base Commander, I want patrol outside the hatchery at all times."

"***Roger that.***" Says a voice on the comm.

"Is the hatchery stabilising?" Asks Wendel.

"Yes, its health is not dropping any more." Answers the Director.

"***Sir we have just detected a massive energy spike about 15 clicks east of here. Scan indicates it is from an unknown massive hovering platform. Scan also indicated there are cloaked structures near that massive platform.***" Says a voice on comm.

"We have finally found the Protoss base." The Colonel is delighted.


	15. Day 21 Part 1

1.

The Colonel and Wendel are briefing General Warfield on the latest development.

"**What exactly can you tell me about this new massive Protoss platform?**" Asks Warfield.

"Very little, General." Wendel replies. "The scientists suspect it has the same recall ability as the Arbiter. They also suspect it has some other teleporting ability, which allows one lone Dark Templar to penetrate our defence. The Dark Templar tried to destroy the Zerg Hatchery we are studying, but we stopped it before it can do any major harm. Unfortunately the Dark Templar escaped because it was recalled by the massive Protoss platform. It also has been cloaking structures near it, so we suspect this is the reason why we have been unable to detect the Protoss base before."

"**Good. All the more reason to take it out, we can study the wreckage later.**"

Wendel continues. "The Protoss base appears to be just one pylon, one warpgate and one cybernetics core. This is consistent with the Protoss forces we have seen on the planet, and the political situation with the Protoss. They are not on this planet in huge numbers. Maybe just a few scouts. But the Dark Templars and Stalkers are a constant threat because of their mobility. If we cut off the supply, then I think they will completely stop harassing us and go into hiding."

Wendel goes on. "However, we also think the Zergs are holding back because of the Protoss. We have not seen Overlords on the surface of the planet. So we suspect the Zerg do not know the approximate strength of the Protoss forces, unlike us. If we destroy the Protoss base and the massive Protoss platform, then the Zerg will have no inhibition and may start a direct assault on our base. So, with respect General, if we destroy the Protoss base now, it may start a downward spiral in which we cannot win."

"**Do you have confidence in holding the base, Colonel Zilong?**"

"If the attack forces are only mutalisks, then yes. Against a combined force of ground units and flyers, no. In light of this, we have already formulated a contingency plan. We have been building battlecruisers and preparing to ferry the scientists and colonists off planet. Our ground forces however are still prepared to hold the science facility to the last marine."

"**I like your initiative, both of you. We can use a few battlecruisers to bolster our ranks. I'll give you some news about the war we are fighting with UED. They have taken our Dylarian Shipyards, which means battlecruisers are in short supply. We don't think we can hold Augustgrad or Korhal itself. The Emperor has already evacuated, and is plotting a counterattack. So the science facility now isn't high on our priority. Tell me, how many battlecruisers have you build?**"

"One so far. The scientists have made improvements to 3D printing technology and have sped up the manufacturing process significantly. We still need two more for complete withdrawal." Says the Colonel.

"**What is your recommendation, Colonel Zilong?**"

"I think the science facility is a lost cause at this point, General. And given the wider situation, I think we need to combine forces as soon as possible." Says the Colonel.

"**That's what I thought. So I'm giving you new orders. Retreat from Xian and regroup at my location. The scientists are still your first priority, we need their knowledge and expertise more than ever. And destroy the special Zerg Hatchery to deny Zerg new units. I will see you two personally soon. Over and out.**"

* * *

2.

Beth has been tasked to monitor the Protoss base from a distance ever since they were spotted. She has been trying to focus her mind and try to detect Protoss units nearby telepathically. So far she has been sensing less and less Protoss units. Either her abilities are faulty, or the Protoss are leaving. Her head still hurts whenever she tries to focus her power, but she is getting used to the pain.

"I see you heed my advice." A voice in her head says. "And you have not been mistaken. We are leaving."

"_You were just a few slashes away from killing the hatchery._" Beth tries to project telepathically her thought.

"We run out of time, in every sense. The Zergs are coming for us, all of us. They will destroy our Mothership and our base. They will destroy your base, and infest every one there. We came here to reactivate this marvellous piece of technology, this Mothership. It is testament to how high our species had risen, and how far we have fallen. It is a pity that we stop our fall only with arrival of the Zerg in our homeworld. The Stalkers represent our future. By recombining our spirits and technology, the Protoss will rise again!"

"_Can you bring a message to Jim Raynor for me?_"

"You are gaining focus, you can sense who I am. And of course I can."

"_Tell him that Sarah must be killed, there is no other way. She is a monster, it would only take a miracle to make her sane again._"

"I will tell friend Raynor your thoughts, and what you are about to do. Good luck, Elizabeth."

And then the voice is gone.

"***Beth come in, we are seeing a massive ball of Mutalisks going straight for the Mothership. Get out of there now!***" Says Wendel on her comm.

"_Copy that._" Beth then turns her cloak back on.

"***Beth, your new orders are to proceed north about 15 clicks. There is a Hive there. You will be the spotter for a nuclear strike on that location.***"

"_Copy that._"

"***Be advised, you will proceed on foot. Assume hostile environment on the way. We are getting pounded by the Zergs in our base and can't spare anything. You are our trump card to getting out of this alive, so stay safe and get there in one piece.***"

"_Roger._"


	16. Day 21 Part 2

1.

Just after the briefing with General Warfield, the Dominion base goes into high alert.

"***Sir, we have Zerg ground incursions.***" The Base Commander reports to The Colonel.

"***We have a mass of Zerglings 5 clicks north of the base.***"

"***We have a hatchery 21 clicks North East of the base, with a mass of Zerglings and Hydralisks.***"

"***We have a hatchery in Radcliffe, with a mass of Zerglings and Hydralisks.***"

"I want 2 Thors, 10 Siege tanks, 5 squads of 4 marines, and 3 SCVs ready to load up onto dropships." Says the Colonel. "I will take them to eliminate first the Zerglings north of the base, then clear out the Zergs in Radcliffe. Afterwards I will return to base and reassess the situation. The hatchery 21 clicks from us is too far from us, which also means it is also too far for it to be an immediate threat to us. Wendel will have command of the base while I'm gone."

"***Roger that.***"

"Good hunting." Wendel says to the Colonel. And the Colonel is off.

* * *

2.

The Colonel is loaded into the the dropship with 3 other SCVs and 4 marines. The dropships are approaching the Zerglings. The Zerglings haven't moved every since landfall.

"Unload the marines, SCVs and siege tanks 500 meters south of the Zerglings. We will proceed on foot. All Dropships stay close to the Siege tanks."

"***Roger that.***"

As soon as the dropships finish unloading, the sky has changed. The little dots of Mutalisks maintaining blockade over the planet form into 3 massive groups of Mutalisks, and have descended into the atmosphere at speed. One deathball of Mutalisks comes directly at the Colonel's position, while the Zerglings are also charging towards time from the north.

"SHIT it's a trap! All units listen carefully to my formation instructions. Thors unload immediately. Siege tanks, stick close to the Thors but stay on their SOUTH side. Engaging Zerglings as they come. Marines stick close to the Thor but stay on the NORTH side of the Thors. All dropships will follow the Thors."

"***Roger that.***"

One other Mutalisks deathball heads towards the Dominion Base, while the third deathball heads straight towards the Protoss base and the Mothership.

"Wendel we have one massive cloud of Mutalisks coming your way. Get the scientists and colonists into the battlecruiser, this is the perfect moment for them to leave the planet."

"***Roger that. Do you need assistance?***"

"Negative. Conserve all Wraiths, do not use them to engage the Mutalisks. Use them only to escort the Battlecruiser when it is ready."

"***Roger that.***"

"Marines and Siege tanks! Follow the Thor, stay near it at all time, they will protect you against the Mutalisks. Engage the Zerglings and fire at will."

"***Roger that.***"

"Thors, start walking back towards the base. This is the only formation that can protect us from the that massive ball of Mutalisks. SCVs, follow the Thor and repair ONLY the Thors. They will keep us alive so we can't lose them."

"***Roger that.***"

At the same time, the Zerglings are already pushing towards the Colonel's position. The Marines are shooting at the zerglings while the siege tanks are firing.

"Thors, DO NOT engage the Zerglings. ONLY engage the Mutalisks."

"***Roger that.***"

"Everyone listen up, if we keep up with this formation, we will all get back to the base alive. So let's go!"

* * *

3.

The massive ball of mutalisks has arrived at the Dominion base. There are only two Thors guarding the base. The Mutalisks however are not engaging the Thors. They are systemically destroying the missile turrets. Because of the mobility of the Mutalisks, as soon as the Thors arrive at one end of the base trying to shoot the Mutalisks, the mutas immediately fly away to another end of the base and kill off missile turrets there. In this way Mutalisks are slowly but surely killing off all missile turrets while the Thors can't retaliate.

At the same time, the Zerglings and Hydralisks from Radcliffe are attacking the base. The bunkers supported by Siege tanks are easily holding them off, and Fry is in the middle of it roasting Zergings as a Firebat. But while the marines in bunkers are engaging Zerg ground forces, they can't attack the Mutalisks that are slowly killing off missile turrets. This is obviously a massive coordinated attack.

Wendel puts his Viking into walker mode and is helping with the marines. During a lull of Zerg ground activity, Wendel finally has a chance to check on the strategic situation.

"Beth come in, we are seeing a massive ball of Mutalisks going straight for the Mothership. Get out of there now!" Wendels informs Beth.

"_Copy that._"

"Base commander, are all the scientists and colonists loaded up into the Battlecruiser?"

"***Negative, they are about half done.***"

"Are they able to operate the battlecruiser on their own?"

"***Positive, we have been training colonists to crew the Battlecruiser, and the scientists know how to fix it.***"

"What's the situation with the Colonel?"

"***The Colonel's group has eliminated the Zergs north of us and are returning to base on foot. They are being pursued by one mutalisk deathball. The Thors are holding them at bay but they are moving very slowly.***"

"Status with the hatchery in Radcliffe?"

"It is fully mining the mineral and gas there, and are streaming units towards us."

"What about the hatchery 21 clicks north east from us?"

"***It is evolving into a Hive. It is also fully mining, with a Spawning Pool, Hydralisk Den nearby. Scans also indicates Kerrigan is there.***"

"What? Say again the last part."

"***Scan indicates Kerrigan is near the Lair 21 clicks from there.***"

"Beth, your new orders are to proceed north about 15 clicks. There is a Hive there. You will be the spotter for a nuclear strike on that location."

"_Copy that._"

"Be advised, you will proceed on foot. Assume hostile environment on the way. We are getting pounded by the Zergs in our base and can't spare anything. You are our trump card to getting out of this alive, so stay safe and get there in one piece."

"_Roger._"

* * *

4.

Beth is carefully running towards her target.

"*I know you can hear me.*"

The land is covered in creep, with creep colony spawning everywhere.

"*Do you know why I like being Zerg? They give me POWER.*"

Every now and then Beth will come across a Spore Colony, or an Overlord flying above. She avoids these detectors while scanning for other trouble.

"*Do you know how pathetic it is to wait for someone else to save you? Do you know how pathetic it was for me to wait for YOU to save me from New Gettysburg? Or wait for Raynor? For Mengsk? If you want to know how it feels, just ask for help on your little communication device yourself. You will know how it feels straight away."

Occasionally Beth sees a few Hydralisks or Zerglings rushing off.

"*I LET them change me, because they promised me POWER. So I will NEVER feel helpless again.*"

And occasionally Beth hears a voice, Kerrigan's voice.

"*And now with the Overmind gone, that little voice nagging me all the time is gone. I am FREE. And I am POWERFUL."

"_No you are not free. You are still a slave to the Zerg._" Beth finally makes a response. Even with her psionic abilities drained to power the cloak on her Ghost suit, she can still sense Kerrigan. She is nearby.

"*No I COMMAND the Zerg. Do you see what is happening around you? It is all because of ME.*"

"_You are still slave to the Zerg because if you don't have them, you are powerless. If you want to be free, stop enslaving the Zerg. Walk away. Let them survive on their own terms, and let yourself survive on your own terms._" Beth locks onto her target with her C-10 sniper rifle.

"*Freedom is meaningless if it doesn't come with power.*"

"_No it isn't. Freedom isn't about sitting alone ruling your own little kingdom doing whatever you want. It is about people VOLUNTARILY, FREELY coming together, enjoying each other's company, as equals. Power DESTROYS that freedom._"

"*ENOUGH!* Kerrigan lashes out. Beth can feel the land shakes. "*Who are YOU to lecture me? You are weak. I am STRONG. Does the wolf ever listen to the sheep it is about to slaughter?*"

"_Kerrigan you are MY responsibility. MY burden to bear. It is because I wasn't strong enough that I followed the order to leave you behind. But I WILL correct my mistake. I WILL kill you. I WILL free you from the Zerg._"

"*You are quite an amusing and foolish woman. Don't worry, I WILL let you live. I will let you live to see with your own eyes and remember how people depending on you die ONE BY ONE.*"

Then Kerrigan's voice in Beth's head abruptly cut off. Kerrigan is hovering above the Hive Beth was targeting. And now a nuclear missile lands on the Hive. Kerrigan and the Hive are engulfed in a mushroom cloud.

"_Wendel that was a hit._" Beth speaks quietly into her comm.

"***Keep painting the target, one nuke isn't enough to kill a hive, we will be sending four more.***"

"_Roger._"

Kerrigan is still hovering above the Hive, she uses her telekinetic abilities to form a shield around her, but now she is scanning the surrounding area rapidly. Kerrigan is looking for Beth. Then the second nuke hit.

"_That's another hit, I have to move to avoid an Overlord. Standby._"

"***Copy that.***"

Beth moves to another vantage point and starts targeting the Hive. Kerrigan is still scanning for Beth, but now a lot of Overlords are arriving the area surrounding the Hive. Then the third nuke hits.

Afterwards Kerrigan isn't hovering above the Hive. She falls onto the top of the bleeding Hive, but the Hive cushions her fall. Beth has to move once again as Hydralisks and Overlords are swarming the area surrounding the hive. Beth is running out of space to hide.

Kerrigan then suddenly locks onto Beth's location, and is rapidly flying towards her.

Beth carefully put down her sniper rifle on a rock. She walks away from the sniper rifle, but sill making sure that the sniper rifle is still pointing at herself.

Then Kerrigan suddenly appears and grab Beth by the throat with one hand. Beth is lifted off the ground, her hands are trying to break Kerrigan's grip.

"*I changed my mind.*" Says Kerrigan.

Just when Kerrigan is about to pierce Beth with her other hand. A nuke lands on Kerrigan and Beth. Beth's sniper rifle has been painting the target all along.


	17. Day 21 Part 3 and End Notes

1.

Every time the nuclear strike hits, the Zergs stay stunned for a while. Then they resume to attack. Wendel knows this is working. Kerrigan is controlling the Zerg, and if they kill Kerrigan, the Zerg will be listless and they can get out of this alive. The Colonel's group has also arrived back into the base. His marines and siege tanks are immediately pressed into base defence. After the fourth nuclear strikes, every Zergs in the area are stunned. The Mutalisks death balls have moved away from the base though.

The Dominion forces take this opportunity to clear out Zergs, repair and resupply.

"Given the way the Zergs are reacting, or not reacting, I'm positive the nukes killed Kerrigan." Says Wendel immediately after meeting the Colonel. "However, we proceed with the evacuation plan. If Kerrigan is really dead then there is nothing to fear, and we can keep making Battlecrisers and get off this planet. But if Kerrigan isn't dead, this is the prefect time to send the Battlecruiser away."

"I agree." Says the Colonel. "Base Commander, what is the status of the Hive and the Hatchery in Radcliffe?"

"***The Hive is gone sir. The Hatchery in Radcliffe is idle.***"

"Colonel I also suggest you go with the Battlecruiser."

"No, I'll ride the last Battlecruiser out."

"Please Colonel this is no time to argue. We both know you are more valuable helping General Warfield than staying here. Besides, the scientists are now the real prize, and you should protect them. Kerrigan is dead, this is just clean up work. I can handle this." Wendel is practically pushing the Colonel towards the Battlecruiser.

"Very well. You have command, Colonel Wendel." The Colonel is finally aboard.

But as soon as the Colonel is out of sight, Wendel orders SCVs to repair bunkers. Wendel is expecting another attack.

* * *

2.

"Battlecruiser, status?" Asks Wendel.

"***Battlecruiser operational.***" Comes the voice over comm.

"Proceed to the designated coordinate. We will have all our Wraiths protecting you."

"***Roger that. Set a course.***" says a voice on the comm.

"All Wraiths, protect the battlecruiser at all cost. Do not use your cloak until you see the Mutalisks attacking the Battlecruiser. After the battlecruiser is in warpspace, Engage all Mutalisks as long as possible."

"***Roger that. Vector locked in.***"

Then three large balls of Mutalisks swoop in and instantly destroyed 3 Thors before they can fire a shot. The 4th Thors is destroyed next immediately. Then the mutalisks start destroying the bunkers. There is no more Thor to counter the massive ball of Mutalisks.

"***What? Wendel I thought you said Kerrigan is dead.***" Colonel says angrily over the comm.

"I'm sorry Colonel, I have to lie to get you aboard. We all lied. I ask every one of your people to lie in order to get you aboard. They all agreed, not one disagreed. You are needed elsewhere, and you shouldn't die here. Safe journey Colonel."

The Colonel knows there is nothing he can do once he is aboard. There is no marine aboard, just scientists and colonists.

* * *

3.

"All right listen up, we have to buy as much time for the Battlecruiser, so engage all Hydralisks and Mutalisks as soon as you see them. We move as a massive ball of marines to cover the Battlecruiser. Marines stay in the middle. Firebats stay on the outside and burn every Zerg. Siege tank watch our movement. As long as there are marine surrounding you, deploy and fire at will. As soon as the marines move away, unsiege and follow the marines."

"***Roger that.***"

"Command Centre, why aren't Zerg ground units attacking?" Asks Wendel.

"***They are waiting for reinforcements. We are seeing Zerglings and Queen massing.***"

"Good, the less Hydralisks the better."

The Mutalisks are trying to engage the Battlecruiser, but the cloaked Wraiths are slaughtering the Mutalisks. The marines on the ground are also engaging the Mutalisks. Finally the Battlecruiser is in orbit and warped away. The marines all give out a loud cheer.

"All right, return to base as a group! We are killing the Hatchery in our base. Then we take down as many Zergs as we can!"

* * *

4.

Beth finally regains consciousness. The first thing she notices is that her whole body is hurting. Every muscle and every bone. Her suit is badly damaged, and she isn't cloaking any more. Then she sees Kerrigan right in front of her. Kerrigan is telekinetically holding her in mid air. When Kerrigan sees Beth has opened her eyes, she slowly turn Beth's body away from Kerrigan. Kerrigan is force Beth to watch something.

A mass of Zerglings are attacking a small groups of Dominion troops. Beth sees Wendel in his Viking in walker mode, Fry and 4 other Firebats are slowly inching their way towards the Zerg hatchery the Dominion kept in the base, and they are the only ones left. That hatchery is the sole reason the Zergs are attacking, and they are going to kill it. Fry is punching and batting away the Zerglings as his flamethrowers are running out of gas.

Kerrigan makes sure Beth is seeing them. Then 6 Queens swoop in and seem to be throwing 6 darts towards the group still fighting. The darts hit each of them, and broodlings immediately hatch from their bodies. The dart also penetrated the cockpit of the Viking. Wendel, Fry and all four firebats die instantly.

"*I said I will make you watch them die.*" Kerrigan is gloating.

Beth lets out a loud cry. Her head hurts especially, and her nose starts bleeding, but suddenly Beth breaks free of Kerrigan's telekinetic grip with her own telekinesis. Beth immediately grabs a rifle from a nearby dead marine and starts shooting at Kerrigan. Kerrigan stops each and every bullet fired at her with her telekinesis. Beth keeps firing until she runs out. Then she crawls towards Wendel's Viking. Beth wants to climb aboard and use it to shoot Kerrigan.

At this point, all Zerglings have retreated. It is just Kerrigan and the Queens. Kerrigan slowly watches Beth crawling towards the Viking. Just when Beth is about to climb onto the Viking, she stops Beth with her telekinesis.

"*I only let the weak live. But you are stronger than I thought. So I'll keep you for myself. I may need you some day.*"

One queen flies in and wraps Beth in its body. Then the Queen and the Queen of Blades leave.

THE END

* * *

End Notes

I hope you enjoy this fan fiction. It is supposed to be longer than it is, but I am either too busy or too lazy to finish the way it is meant to be. I still think there is enough meat in the present form. Some time in the future I will come back and do proper copy-editing.

Here are some spoilers, if there is enough interest I can add these elements back in there, eventually.

1. The Director and the Colonel are supposed to have a Pride-and-Prejudice romance. SWOON!

2. The war with the Zerg is supposed to be a war of attrition, with the Dominion slowly losing control over the planet. Then comes the final sledgehammer as seen at the end.

3. That mysterious Dark Templar is supposed to help Beth to develop her powers over a longer period of time.

4. Wade, the Director's son, is supposed to be a late, major character. He is supposed to be an ace pilot developing under Wendel.

5. The Director is supposed to hate Wendel's guts even more because of ideological clash, and because Wendel 'seduces' her son to be a soldier.

6. The Director will be revealed to have came to her position not by merit, but because her husband is a high ranking Confederacy soldier (maybe not even dead, this adds spices to #1...). This is the reason why Wendel dislikes the Director so much.

7. Fry and the Colonel are supposed to develop mutual but grudging respect for each other, because deep down they are pretty much the same.

8. Beth is supposed to challenge and question Raynor's attitude to Kerrigan directly. Beth thinks Raynor's judgement is clouded by his feelings towards Kerrigan.

9. Wendel tries very very hard to turn Beth into a mole for the Dominion, and Beth is supposed to have a crisis. (See also #6, #8.)

10. Dominion are meant to be more colonialists/human chauvinists, kind of like Cerberus in Mass Effect 2. Right now I think I have painted the Dominion to be grey enough, but the colonialism interpretation will make them blacker, and will clash directly with Protoss' kind of paternalism (i.e. we are killing you because it is good for you, trust us.), with Beth being sweet-talked by both sides.

Fully developing every point will cost about 10k words. I promise to be swift but still interesting, if I ever get around to do them all.


End file.
